http://www.ecocn.org/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=176195&extra=page%3D1

Google and antitrust
谷歌和反垄断

Transatlantic tussles
跨洋斗

Investigations into Google approach a climax in America and Europe
谷歌受调查 美欧演烈战

“HAVE you been duped by a bad search?” asks scroogled.com, a cheeky website that urges people to post gripes about the quality of Google searches on a related Facebook page. Scroogled was set up by Microsoft and encourages you to use Bing, Microsoft’s competing search engine, instead.

“你是否被劣质的搜索引擎坑过？”苦歌网scroogle.com如是说。这个恶搞网站鼓励人们在相关的脸谱（Facebook）页面上吐糟谷歌的搜索质量。苦歌网(Scroogle)是微软建立的网站，鼓励大家使用微软的搜索引擎必应。

Partly at Microsoft’s urging, regulators in America and Europe have spent the past couple of years looking into whether Google has abused its dominant position in the online-search market on both sides of the Atlantic to advance its commercial interests at consumers’ expense. Its rivals are hoping Google will be forced to make changes to its search activities that severely hamper its business.

受到微软此举的部分影响，过去几年，美国和欧洲的管理者着手调查谷歌，看它是否滥用其线上搜索市场的垄断地位，针对消费者扩大它在大西洋两岸的商业利益。谷歌的竞争对手都希望谷歌因此而被迫改变其搜索行为，这样一来，谷歌的商业利益将受到严重影响。

They may well be disappointed by the eventual outcome in America. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)注1 is considering a settlement with Google that would barely touch the company’s core search business. The web giant’s foes want the FTC to rein in Google’s habit of promoting its own services, such as travel-related offerings, over those of competing sites in search results. But the deal being discussed would not do that.

美国的最终结果可能会让他们大失所望。美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）注1正与谷歌考虑一套解决方案，此方案几乎不伤及该公司的核心搜索业务。该网站巨头的对手则希望委员会限制谷歌习惯于推广自己服务的行为，比如说推销自己的旅游相关服务，然后才是其他竞争对手的网页结果，但委员会目前商讨中的解决方案并不预示有这种打算。

Google has volunteered to let other websites opt out of having snippets of their content, such as consumer reviews, displayed on its pages. It has also offered to stop making exclusive deals with other sites for use of its search ads and services. In a third concession, it has said it will make it easier for advertisers to shift data generated by ad campaigns run on Google to other search engines.

谷歌愿意让其他网页退出网页快照功能，比如说不再在谷歌页面显示消费者评论；谷歌也不再要求其他网页与它签订排他性协议以使用它的广告搜索服务；谷歌做出的第三个让步是，承诺让广告商更方便地把在谷歌上做广告产生的数据转移到其他搜索引擎上。

Addressing another FTC concern, Google seems willing to license patents deemed essential for wireless communications to other firms on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The company acquired thousands of patents when it bought Motorola Mobility, a maker of mobile phones.

为了面对贸易委员会的另一个担忧，谷歌似乎愿意以公平、合理、公道的条款授予其他企业专利许可，这对这些企业的无线通讯业务至关重要。谷歌在收购手机制造商摩托罗拉的时候获得了数以千计的专利。

Google’s foes want the FTC to insist that Google stop favouring its own businesses. Some have already been lobbying America’s Department of Justice to take up the case. But Herbert Hovenkamp, an antitrust expert at the University of Iowa who has done work for Google, reckons that it is “highly unlikely” to go any further than the FTC.

谷歌的对手都希望贸易委员会持续阻止谷歌对其业务的偏袒行为，甚至已有人开始游说美国司法部着手干预这个案件。但是，爱荷华大学的反垄断专家Herbert Hovenkamp对谷歌进行了调查，认为司法部“不大可能”采取比委员会更多的措施。

Things are also coming to a head in Europe. On December 18th the European Commission said it wanted Google to address the charge of search bias and gave it a month to come up with proposals to do so.

欧洲方面同样出了状况。12月18日，欧洲委员会表示希望谷歌着手处理搜索偏向性的问题，并容它在一个月内提出解决方案。

This presents the web firm with a dilemma. If it caves in to the Europeans’ demand and ends up producing two sets of search results, one for America and another for Europe, it will highlight the differences between them. Customers are bound to notice, and that could give more ammunition to Google’s opponents in America. But if the firm refuses to budge, it could end up mired in a nasty and protracted legal battle in Europe that could leave it well and truly scroogled.

这让谷歌陷入了两难的困境，如果它在欧洲方面做出让步，最终会导致出现美国版本和欧洲版本两种搜索结果，还会让两地相异之处尤为明显。客户会注意到这点，这也等于给谷歌在美国的竞争对手更多攻击它的弹药。但如果谷歌拒绝让步，很可能会在欧洲陷入到冗长拖沓的法律纠纷泥潭当中，这就真的成了“苦歌”了。



单词释义
antitrust adj.反垄断的
dupe v.欺骗，愚弄
snippet n.片段
foe n.对手，敌人
lobby v.对……进行游说
mire v.使……陷入泥沼
protract v.拖延

名词解释

1.The Federal Trade Commission：美国联邦贸易委员会(FTC)是执行多种反托拉斯和保护消费者法律的联邦机构。FTC的目的是确保国家市场行为具有竞争性。且繁荣、高效地发展，不受不合理的约束。FTC也通过消除不合理的和欺骗性的条例或规章来确保和促进市场运营的顺畅。 （来自：百度百科）