FTC chair: No ethical conflict in Google review

FTC CHAIR: NO ETHICAL CONFLICT IN GOOGLE REVIEW
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said Friday she won't remove herself from an antitrust review of Google Inc.'s purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick, rebuffing requests from privacy groups opposed to the transaction. After reviewing a petition from the groups with the FTC's ethics official and other staff, she determined that "the relevant laws and rules ... neither require nor support recusal." Chairman Majoras said her husband's firm, Jones Day, hasn't appeared before the FTC on the transaction, and is only representing DoubleClick before the European Commission, which is also scrutinizing the deal. John Majoras said Wednesday that he has not been involved in any aspect of the transaction. Federal officials are barred from participating in decisions that could affect their financial interests, Majoras said. But her husband is no longer an equity partner at Jones Day, which means his compensation doesn't change if the firm's income changes, she said. "Hence, I do not have a financial conflict in this matter," she said in a statement. Blair Levin, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, wrote Thursday in a note to clients that he believed Majoras supports approving the deal, and her recusal could have led to a 2-2 tie among the remaining four commissioners. But that would still allow the deal to go forward, because a majority of commissioners is required for the FTC to try to block a deal in court. Commissioner William E. Kovacic, whose wife, Kathryn Fenton, is also a partner at Jones Day, said he would also not remove himself. Kovacic was not mentioned in the privacy groups' petitions. The FTC's three other commissioners, Pamela Jones Harbour, Jon Leibowitz and J. Thomas Rosch, issued a joint statement, saying that they agreed with the decisions of Platt Majoras and Kovacic not to recuse themselves."It is evident that these commissioners have at all times taken affirmative steps to conduct themselves in complete conformity with the ethical standards that apply to their positions," the three said.
http://money.cnn.com/rssclick/2007/12/14/technology/ftc_google.ap/index....

* FTC chairman won't recuse herself in Google deal
http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.info...

* A Higher Standard is required by the Agency
[Commentary] This case illustrates something we all know. That the big money and special interest nature of Washington politics is at odds with the concerns and needs of the average American. As I said, a higher standard is required­for public service, disclosure and intellectual rigor (something we believe the FTC has failed to do in this case and related privacy matters). It’s a story that not going away. That’s why we are writing about it­and keeping a watch as well!
http://www.democraticmedia.org/jcblog/?p=424