One Problem With FTC/Google Settlement: Implies Fair Use Scraping Is An Antitrust Issue
One Problem With FTC/Google Settlement: Implies Fair Use Scraping Is An Antitrust Issue
The recent FTC settlement with Google regarding search practices contains a controversial provision allowing companies to opt out of having their content scraped or displayed in search snippets. While framed as a consumer protection measure, critics argue this creates a dangerous legal precedent by implying that such data aggregation is an antitrust violation. This ambiguity lacks a solid legal basis and ignores established fair use protections, potentially chilling innovation across the tech industry by making companies fear liability for standard web indexing activities. Regulatory commissioners strongly dissented, noting there was no evidence of actual harm or competitive disadvantage to the affected parties. In fact, the data suggested that snippet display often drove increased traffic and benefited the original content creators, contradicting the claim that these practices stifled competition. By treating harmless aggregation as a violation, the FTC risks overstepping its authority and becoming a de facto enforcer of copyright laws, a role for which it lacks both the expertise and congressional mandate. This development is critically relevant to the open data community because it threatens the fundamental mechanisms that allow public data to be aggregated, analyzed, and repurposed for broader societal benefit. If major tech platforms are forced to restrict access to aggregated data due to vague antitrust interpretations, the flow of open information will be severely hindered. The settlement risks empowering companies to block fair use practices, thereby reducing the availability of diverse data sources and undermining the collaborative ecosystem that relies on the free exchange and reuse of digital information.
Source: techdirt.comPublished on 2023-01-08