Advocacy Group Asks DOJ To Probe Google Search Results

Consumer Watchdog today called on the Justice Department to guarantee that its ongoing antitrust probe of Google's business practices include an investigation into if the company is manipulating its search results to favor its own products.

The nonprofit advocacy group said it sent a letter to Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Division, after news that the European Commission had received three complaints against Google alleging the company manipulated search engine results in an anticompetitive way.

Also this week U.K. based price comparison site Foundem filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission with examples of how Google products were allegedly favored in its search results.

"We know and appreciate that your department is conducting an ongoing antitrust investigation of various business practices by Google, some of that related to the proposed Google Books settlement," wrote John M. Simpson, consumer advocate.

"Today I write to call upon you to ensure that included in that probe is consideration of how Google may use its search algorithms to manipulate Internet search results to favor its own products."

With around 70 percent of the search market in the U.S., Consumer Watchdog says Google is effectively the Internet's gatekeeper for most consumers. The group says whether a website is ever visited can depend entirely on where it lands in Google search results.

"As part of your continued antitrust investigation we call on you to shine a light on Google's black box, and require it to explain what's behind search results," Simpson wrote.

"If, as it appears, Google is tweaking results to further its narrow agenda, this anticompetitive behavior must be stopped."
 

Hacking Ring Indicted For $9 Million Fraud

A federal grand jury in Atlanta has indicted eight East Europeans on charges of hacking into a computer network operated by the credit card processing company RBS WorldPay, the U.S. Department of Justice said today.

The 16-count indictment alleges the group used sophisticated hacking techniques to compromise data encryption used by RBS WorldPay to protect customer data on payroll debit cards. Payroll debit cards are used by some companies to pay their employees.

The hacking ring allegedly raised the account limits on compromised accounts, and then provided a network of "cashers" with 44 counterfeit payroll debit cards, which were used to withdraw more than $9 million from more than 2,100 ATMs in at least 289 cites worldwide, including cities in the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan and Canada. The $9 million loss occurred within less than 12 hours.

The hackers then attempted to destroy data on the card processing network to hide their hacking activity. The indictment alleges that the "cashers" were allowed to keep 30 to 50 percent of the money, but sent the rest back to the leaders of the hacking ring.

"The charges brought against this highly sophisticated international hacking ring were possible only because of unprecedented international cooperation with our law enforcement partners, particularly between the United States and Estonia," said Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer.

"Through our close cooperation, both nations have demonstrated our commitment to identifying sophisticated attacks on U.S. financial networks that are directed and operated from overseas and our commitment to bringing the perpetrators to justice."

Some of the hackers if convicted in the U.S. could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
 

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