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原标题 : UKs Competition and Markets Authority looking into
possible market abuse by Google against Windows phones
原新闻连结 : http://goo.gl/2Rv7tj
英国平等交易局调查Google利用市场垄断排斥WP
It is no secret, Microsoft’s mobile platforms have struggled,
from Windows Phone to Windows 10 Mobile. Even the dearest of fans
can attribute at least some of the blame towards Microsoft, they
haven’t done themselves any favours. However, many also believe
that Google has intentionally acted to thwart any possible success
of a 3rd mobile platform which could risk its market dominance.
We’ve already witnessed the fall of one once popular mobile operating
system, BlackBerry, which now focuses on building products for
Google’s operating system – Android.
微软的手机作业系统深陷泥淖早已是公开的秘密,不论是WP还是W10M皆然。
即使是最忠贞的铁粉也无法否认这部分要归功于MS自身,但许多人同时也
相信Google在台面下的小动作也阻止了任何第三方OS成为有力的竞争者。
我们已经目睹了一个曾经广受欢迎的作业系统的崩坏,而黑莓这家公司如
今正在为Google的Android开发客制化产品。
Now, we have been informed by the UKs Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA), the government body assigned to ensure market fairness
and transparency, is looking into launching an investigation against
Google over possible abuse of its dominant position in the mobile market.
Of particular concern is that there are only 2 major mobile operating
systems on the market – Android and iOS, with Android taking the majority
of the market. Generally, a market is recommended to have 3 major
competitors, as is the case with the mobile service provider market.
This is the general rule of thumb to ensure that consumers have choice
and that companies don’t take advantage of their positions.
我们近日收到英国公平交易局这个负责维持市场均衡的机构的通知,表示
政府已经开始准备调查Google是否在滥用其市场垄断地位。针对Google的
担忧,是目前的手机市场只有两个主要竞争者:Android和iOS,而其中
Android又占有大部分的市场。一般而言,理论建议同一个市场中须有三个
主要竞争者,以让消费者有充分的选择权、同时避免任何公司滥用其市场
占有率,此法则同样适用于手机OS市场。
In the letter received from the CMA, it stated that a complaint has
been made against Google and the information they’ve received has
been passed to their Pipelines Team which “analyses and assesses the
information we receive and advises on which cases offer the best
prospect to make real differences for consumers.” The authority
also made clear that, whilst an investigation isn’t guaranteed,
they’re looking into the information they have and will be getting
in touch with the companies involved, presumably Microsoft and Google,
to make “detailed enquiries,” and that it will help them understand
how the “market is working and may in time lead to us taking some
further action.”
UK公平交易局表示,他们已经将收到的针对Google的指控交付给旗下的小组,
他们将会分析他们获得的资讯,并提供建议看究竟哪种情况会对消费者最有利。
官方同时保证,即使不一定会有正式的深入调查,他们一定会就现有的资料详
细的与涉入这次事件的公司,也就是MS与Google,进行深入的沟通,以对现在
手机市场的运行状况有更深了解,并决定是否要有进一步的行动。
In recent times, Google has seemingly made a few attempts that could
be seen as market abuse, which includes:
1. Blocking access to one or more of its services to consumers
on a competing platform, whether temporary or permanent.
2. Restricting consumers access to one or more of its service
on a competing platform, or making it more tedious to access.
There’s also the issue of Google not offering any of its apps on
Microsoft’s mobile platform. Followed by its intentional blocking
of Microsoft’s own third-party YouTube app, which could be construed
as direct market abuse.
近年来,Google有几项行为可以被视为滥用垄断,包括:
1. 暂时或永久阻止竞争对手平台的使用者使用其服务。
2. 暂时或永久限制竞争对手平台的使用者使用其服务。
同时Google并没有在MS的手机OS上推出任何他的app,并阻止MS自行开发的youtube
应用程式上架,这已可直接解释为滥用其市场垄断。
Users of its Gmail service recently made the headlines after Google
made the service inaccessible to email clients on Windows 10 Mobile,
with a Google engineer later replying that they’ve fixed the issue,
after many user complaints on their product forums. The engineer also
said that Google did not intentionally block Gmail for Windows 10 Mobile
users.
Gmail的使用者最近才因为无法从W10M登入其帐号登上了头条,而一位Google
工程师也随后出来说明他们已经解决了此问题,并针对使用者在他们论坛上的
大量抱怨,回应Google并非刻意阻止W10M使用者使用Gmail。
(可参考http://goo.gl/7kAEWX)
If the CMA decide to proceed with a full investigation, Google would
need to respond to the authority’s concerns and provide evidence to
the contrary. Companies are legally obliged to cooperate with the CMA,
or they could face fines for market abuse, which can be hefty in some
cases.
如果公平交易局决定进入全面调查阶段,Google需要提供证据表示他们并没有
滥用垄断的意图。每间公司在法律上皆有义务与公平交易局合作接受调查,否
则将会面对在某些情形下非常庞大的罚款。
The CMA recommends that, if any consumer feels another company is abusing
its market dominance or has information to provide related to Google
and Windows phones, to report it via their website here.
As this is an ongoing case, the authority will not be providing further
updates, until when or if, an investigation takes place. In the meantime,
they will be collecting information and evidence submitted by consumers
and making enquiries.
公平交易局同时建议消费者,若有感受到任何公司有滥用垄断的行为、或有任何
与Google和WP此一案件的相关资讯,皆可以透过他们的网站(https://goo.gl/nmxi86)
提报。
由于这是进行中的调查,官方不会在有进展前再有任何进度报告。同时,他们会
持续收集消费者提供的资讯,并向相关人士持续收集证据。