On April 22, 2016 Google and Microsoft
announced officially that they had buried the hatchet. Reflecting a changing relationship, the two sides drop complaints to regulators around the globe.
For CEPIC and the European photographic community this is reason for concern. Microsoft has been a partner in CEPIC’s anti-competition complaint at the EU and BING a Sponsor of the CEPIC Congress since 2011. Microsoft was a major financier of
I-COMP and
FairSearch, two Brussels-based associations active in the anti-trust case. CEPIC has been a member of I-COMP since 2009 and recently joined Fairsearch.
The agreement requires Microsoft to cease all legal and regulatory hostilities against Google. This has obliged Microsoft to leave I-COMP and FairSearch and to drop their anti competition complaint at the EU.
But what is Microsoft motivation and what does this say about their on-line strategy? The following are a few articles that may provide some insight:
According to Foundem in their Net Neutrlaity Blog, the pact will allow Microsoft to indulge in anti-competitive conduct themselves. Read
here
According to the Guardian, Google and Microsoft have made a pact to protect surveillance capitalism. Read
here
According to Quartz, Microsoft and Google’s new pact could signal the beginning of the end for personal privacy. Read
here
According to the Register, Microsoft needs Google cooperation as it moves to Cloud and starts harvesting personal data. Read
here