at_google_troughSo-called “public-interest” groups really just “Google-interest” groups

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s efforts to hold Google accountable for its suspect business practices has come under fire recently by so-called web “watchdog” groups who’ve come to the defense of the internet behemoth.  The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy & Technology and Public Knowledge and others filed an amicus brief in support of Google’s efforts to ignore a subpoena from Hood requesting information related to its operations linked to illegal drugs, pornography and online piracy.  Hood claims the company is in violation of the state’s consumer laws.

EFF, Center for Democracy & Technology and Public Knowledge fail to mention they receive money from Google

The pro-Google brief begins by providing summaries of its various signatories.  It’s no surprise that each and every description fails to mention organizational ties to Google.  Leading off the parade of disingenuous descriptors is the EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) is a non
-profit, member-supported civil liberties organization that works to protect free speech, innovation, and privacy in the online world.
Funny that on its own website the EFF describes itself as a “”a donor-funded US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.”  For the purposes of the brief, of course, characterizing itself as simply “member-supported” provides a more innocent, public-interest veneer.  In either case, if one attempts to discover exactly where the EFF gets its money, by reviewing the organization’s latest–though somewhat outdated–financial data (from 2012-2013) it seems the actual identities of donors are (conveniently) obscured.  
EFF funding 2012-2013

via: https://www.eff.org/about/annual-reports-and-financials

In a 2012  article for Fortune Magazine, Matt Vella noted that money from Google (and other tech firms) does flow directly into EFF’s coffers.

If the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the nation’s preeminent digital rights nonprofit, had disclosed last year that it received a cool $1 million gift from Google — about 17% of its total revenue — some eyebrows might have been raised. The group typically describes itself as “member-supported” and, like most nonprofits, it treasures its above-the-commercial-fray, public-interest-group aura and reputation for independence.

Vella also pointed out,  “The EFF, CDT, and Stanford’s CIS all reliably line up on the tech sector side in scrimmages with copyright holders.”  Why bite the hand that feeds you?
Google actually makes no bones about the support it provides for both the EFF and The Center for Democracy and Technology in a listing on its own website:

Our U.S. Public Policy and Government Affairs team provides support to a number of independent third-party organizations whose work intersects in some way with technology and Internet policy.

There’s also a little footnote in the amicus brief worth noting:
No one, except for undersigned counsel, has authored this brief in whole or in part or contributed money toward the preparation of this brief.
Yeah, right….One has to appreciate the legal jiu jitsu employed in this misleading caveat.  Perhaps Google didn’t directly underwrite the brief, but it’s clear who pays (some of) the bills.   As such, it’s no surprise that legal arguments cited in the brief include the well-worn don’t blame Google for the behavior of others gambit:
Simply put,requiring online service providers [like Google] either to respond to subpoenas directed primarily at third-party conduct—or to engage in protracted and expensive litigation to challenge their propriety—could result in extraordinary costs for those providers.
Last time I checked, it was Google that admitted culpability when it coughed up $500 million to pay a fine for knowingly earning profits from advertising for illegal drugs online.  
The federal investigation, which was first revealed in May, found that Google was aware that some Canadian pharmacies that advertised on its site failed to require a prescription for substances like the painkiller Oxycontin and the stimulant Ritalin. Google continued to accept their money and assisted the pharmacies in placing ads and improving their Web sites, according to the Justice Department. –NY Times
This type of Google behavior is exactly what Attorney General Hood is investigating. It’s difficult to feel any sympathy for the fact Google may face extraordinary costs to protect its equally extraordinary (and nefarious) profits.  It’s no surprise that those victimized by Google’s profit-machine support Hood’s efforts to pull back the curtain on its shady business practices.  Why wouldn’t they?

 

Though it makes nice talking points, the crux of the amicus brief argument seems to be that Google shouldn’t bear any responsibility for bad (illegal) behavior within its online operations, even when it knowingly encourages and benefits from such behavior.  Not only are the messengers suspect, but their mendacious argument is irretrievably tainted, bought and paid for by Google itself–no matter that a footnote disclaimer may claim.

If you haven’t already, please read The Trichordist’s post published this week, “Bring Out Your Shills: Google’s Shill Mill Attacking Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood for Having the Audacity to Investigate Google.”  It notes more than one amicus brief filed by Google-backed organizations and outlines the insidious chain of influence that winds through all.

Moving now back to the Google v. Hood amicus briefs, Google came up with two that we are aware of–one was filed in support of Google by the Consumer Electronics Association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Engine Advocacy (where Julie P. Samuels–remember her from the Google Shill List–is Executive Director).  Each organization is funded by Google.  The CEA and CCIA alone lobby for companies whose combined market cap surely has to be somewhere around $2 TRILLION….

In other words, the two amicus briefs filed in support of Google’s attempt to stop a criminal investigation were filed solely by organizations that receives funding from Google both directly and indirectly and in some cases has received that funding for many years.   Even in the world of Google influence buying where organizations seem to be created by binary fission straight out of the Benjamins, this is an odd result.

The Trichordist post also references  a recently released Public Citizen study, Mission Creepy  noting that it provides “a great guide to Google’s labyrinthine influence buying.”  I’ll leave you with these chilling words from that study:
…the amount of information and influence that Google has amassed is now threatening to gain such a stranglehold on experts, regulators and lawmakers that it could leave the public powerless to act if it should decide that the company has become too pervasive, too omniscient and too powerful.