German official mulls breaking up Google

... Sigmar Gabriel, who is Germany's economy minister and vice chancellor.
"A breakup, of the kind that has been carried out for electricity and gas grids, must be seriously considered here," Gabriel wrote in an op-ed published Friday by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "But it can only be a last resort. That's why we are focusing on anti-trust style regulation of Internet platforms."


Google dismissed Gabriel's claim.
"We are surprised by the opinion of the minister of economics that companies like Google would harm users, economy and society," Philipp Justus, managing director of Google Germany, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.

German official mulls breaking up Google

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This will be interesting.

zimmer said:

This will be interesting.

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I would certainly like seeing a study on the effects, the costs and benefits of a break up. But the politics in Germany usually don't resort to research except to justify decisions already made. And Gabriel is especially liable to cater to the street.

We simply dont provide the required incentives for IT buisness to boom in Europe.

It`s no wonder that top US companies march through our countries colleges and univercities recruiting all the best graduates in statistical maths, mechatronics, physics, computer engeneering and others...

And it isnt just a German problem, there is no such thing as a "European Facebook" or "European Google" since our brightest minds enjoy the free education and then go to making Volkswagens or gambling with someone elses money in the London city rather than creating new economic sectors in IT.

And I do not believe that this is due to supposed domination of the market by American companies.