eric goldman

On Capitol Hill, it's all about beating down Google

commentary WASHINGTON--It was inevitable that Google, one of the world's largest technology companies, would find itself in the crosshairs of the Washington antitrust establishment. But what is, or should be, a little surprising is how enthusiastic the establishment became about pulling the trigger.

Take an event I moderated last week in the U.S. Capitol building organized by the free-market group TechFreedom, a nonpartisan think tank.

In theory, members of Congress and their staff carefully craft public policies that encourage the development of new technologies and benefit the entire nation. But the reality of the questions asked was less … Read more

Google criticized over house ads policy

Auctioneers generally aren't allowed to bid in their own auctions; why should Google be any different?

That's what Santa Clara University professor of law Eric Goldman is wondering, publishing an essay Wednesday on his personal blog and Search Engine Land calling on Google to stop bidding in AdWords auctions to run "house ads" that promote Google products. Google's involvement in the process distorts the value of search ads for other advertisers trying to bid on the same keywords and makes it impossible to know whether Google is playing fair, Goldman wrote.

"Thus, when Google … Read more

A copyright ruling no one can like

Legal experts sympathetic to copyright owners as well as those known for supporting technology companies are criticizing a federal judge's decision to lower a jury award in a high-profile lawsuit about file sharing.

A year ago, a jury found college student Joel Tenenbaum liable for willful copyright infringement for sharing 30 songs, and later set a damages award of $675,000. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner dramatically reduced the award to $67,500.

Gertner wrote in her decision that the original amount was too high and "unconstitutional." With regard to statutory damages in a … Read more

Wikipedia community grapples with changes

When it comes to Wikipedia, the "free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," any kind of structural change is a very big deal.

That's why the current plan for a new rule that would require an editor's approval before any edits to articles about living persons go live is a very big deal. As reported in The New York Times on Monday, that new system is expected to be implemented sometime soon, though it will most likely initially be a trial that will affect only a limited number of articles.

This week, much of the movers and … Read more