SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2014 technology Smartphone suit against Google plays into rivals’ hands SAN FRANCISCO: A US consumer lawsuit accusing lic,” he said. represented one of Google’s main rivals. Berman tracts between Google and Android manufacturers Google of monopolizing prime real estate on Google declined to comment. A hearing on defended Microsoft when it faced its own antitrust Samsung and HTC that became public during Android smartphones will help mobile rivals like Google’s bid to dismiss the case is scheduled for investigations over Windows. Berman said he has Oracle’s separate 2012 trial against Google. Microsoft make their antitrust case with European October. Any damaging evidence from the class had “conversations with Microsoft over the years If Samsung or HTC wishes to use Google apps on regulators should damaging secrets emerge in action would play into the hands of Google’s rivals. about Google’s conduct,” but not about this lawsuit. its phones, the consumer lawsuit said, they must court. Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans said the company No stranger to antitrust inquiries, Google was preload a suite of services - including YouTube and The suit, filed in California federal court in May “is not a party” to the consumer lawsuit, but last scrutinized by U.S. and European regulators over Maps - on “prime screen real estate” on the phones, by two smartphone consumers, said Google year a group of companies - including Microsoft, allegations that it improperly manipulated search and set Google search as the default. requires handset manufacturers such as Samsung Oracle, Nokia, Expedia and TripAdvisor - filed a results to rank its own services higher than competi- It also argues that Google’s deal with Apple to be Electronics Co Ltd to restrict competing apps like complaint with European antitrust regulators over tors. US authorities ultimately closed their investiga- the default search on iPhones and iPads locks out Microsoft’s Bing search on Android phones, partly some of the same issues in the U.S. lawsuit. tion without filing a lawsuit, and Europe’s competi- competitors across the mobile universe. Apple does by making Google’s own apps the default. Google apps “are widely used on Android by tion commissioner negotiated a settlement earlier not have its own search engine, has lower market Google argued last week the proposed class requiring default placement and other mechanisms this year which is awaiting approval by the broader share worldwide than Android and is not a defen- action should be dismissed because consumers for disadvantaging competing apps,” the compa- European Commission. dant in the case. still are free to use the other apps. The plaintiffs nies said in a summary of their complaint. Google’s deals with handset makers do not pre- counter that most consumers either don’t know Google last year said it was working coopera- PRIME REAL ESTATE vent rival search engines “from reaching consumers how to switch default settings, or will not go to tively with European regulators, who have yet to The main issue for US courts will be whether through the various distribution channels available the trouble. decide whether to formally investigate. Android and mobile services like search are “techni- to them,” Google wrote in its motion to dismiss the If a judge lets the lawsuit proceed, plaintiffs’ cally separate, or tied in ways that impedes compe- US lawsuit. attorneys would be allowed to delve into internal MICROSOFT TIES tition for consumers,” said Michael Cusumano, a pro- Cusumano said the US class action could hurt Google emails and contracts with smartphone Berman has a long history of taking on large US fessor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Google if a judge finds that it improperly pushes its companies, and could interview Google executives companies. He reached a settlement for consumers Cusumano has extensively researched Microsoft, mapping and location services, which is embedded under oath, said Steve Berman, who represents the suing Apple over its e-book sales practices that which unsuccessfully sued the professor in the across the Android system. consumers. could reach $450 million, and settled for $1.6 billion 1990s for access to his notes. This year Microsoft has It’s “kind of a Pandora’s Box to look inside what “I’m confident we will get into juicy stuff, and I a lawsuit on behalf of Toyota car owners with unin- sought to hire him to write an expert opinion in an Google does, and the relationship it has with all think that will up the pressure on Google as tended acceleration claims. unrelated proceeding. these smartphone and handset manufacturers,” he some of the material we discover becomes pub- But the Seattle-based plaintiffs’ lawyer also has The US consumer lawsuit is based largely on con- said. — Reuters IRS says hard drive that lost emails destroyed WASHINGTON: The IRS said Friday that drive. Lois Lerner’s computer hard drive was Walton also wanted information about destroyed three years ago, ending any an inspector general’s investigation into chance of retrieving her lost emails. the lost emails. Walton wanted to know the In court papers, the IRS said the hard qualifications of computer experts con- drive was destroyed after two sets of ducting the investigation, and he wanted a trained technicians tried to retrieve the projection on when the investigation will data. The tax agency said it was standard be complete. procedure to destroy old data storage Timothy Camus, a deputy inspector equipment that may have contained confi- general for investigations, said in court dential taxpayer information. papers that 11 special agents are on the The IRS says Lerner’s computer crashed case. However, he added, “It is not possible in 2011, destroying an untold number of to give an estimated date of completion.” A emails. At the time, Lerner headed the divi- Justice Department lawyer told Walton last sion that handles applications for tax- week that there was no evidence Lerner exempt status. intentionally destroyed her hard drive. Lerner is a central figure in congression- On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General al investigations into the handling of appli- James Cole told Congress that the Justice cations by tea party and other conservative Department is investigating the lost emails groups. as part of a larger probe into the way IRS Commissioner John Koskinen had agents handled applications for tax- told Congress that Lerner’s hard drive was exempt status. Walton’s order came in a recycled and presumably destroyed. lawsuit filed by a group called True the Friday’s court filings confirmed it. Vote, which says it advocates for the As part of a lawsuit, US District Judge integrity of elections. The group sued the Reggie B. Walton ordered the IRS last week IRS over delays in its application for tax- to explain what happened to the hard exempt status. — AP NEW YORK: In this July 11, 2013 file photo, then Nokia CEO Stephen Elop desicribes the company’s Nokia Lumia 1020, in New York.On Thursday, July 17, 2014, as part of an announcement to cut up to 18,000 jobs over the next year, Microsoft said it would discontinue its Nokia X phones and shift future product designs to its Lumia line of Windows phones. — AP Discarded Nokia X phones suffered from lack of identity NEW YORK: The Nokia X phones that Microsoft Microsoft by replacing many of the Google serv- four models range from $120 to $150. By con- discontinued this week blend two rival operating ices on Android with Microsoft’s services. trast, Nokia’s Lumia Icon costs $550 without sub- systems, but leave out the best of each. Android staples such as Gmail, Google Maps and sidies that come with two-year service contracts. As a result, the devices didn’t become a run- Google’s app store are nowhere to be found. Apple’s iPhone 5s and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 cost away hit as Nokia’s low-cost answer to serving Instead, Nokia X phones have Here Maps from even more. emerging markets. Nokia X phones were devised Nokia and Skype and OneDrive from Microsoft. In killing Nokia X, Microsoft isn’t changing to be a gateway to the company’s pricier Lumia The Nokia X home screen looks nothing like Nokia’s commitment to serving emerging mar- phones. The operating system that runs the Android, but resembles Windows. kets. Microsoft knows those regions are high- WASHINGTON: This March 5, 2014 file photo shows former Internal Revenue Service phones was to blend the core technology found The thinking was that once Nokia X users growth areas, as many people in the United (IRS) official Lois Lerner speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. — AP in Google’s Android system with services and were ready for higher-end phones, Lumia would States and other industrialized markets already designs found in Microsoft’s own Windows be their choice because they are already accus- have smartphones. Microsoft is also aware that Phone system. Nokia looked to Android as a way tomed to Microsoft services and designs. But those devices need to be affordable. to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavail- Nokia adapted Android so much that it affected The day before Nokia announced its Android Samsung handset division able on Windows. functionality. Software developers had to tweak phones at a February wireless show in Barcelona, But Microsoft completed its deal to buy some of their apps because Nokia X lacks key Spain, Microsoft unveiled plans to update its managers return part Nokia’s phone business in April, and Nokia X is Google services. For instance, location services Windows Phone system. Among other things, gone less than three months later.