歐洲排斥谷歌是商業保護主義

Have you heard the term Gafa yet? It hasn’t caught on here in the United States — and I’m guessing it won’t — but in France, it has become so common that the newspapers hardly need to spell out its meaning. Everyone there already knows what Gafa stands for: Google-Apple-Facebook-Amazon.

你聽說過Gafa這個詞嗎？它還沒有在美國這邊流行起來——我猜它不會流行——但在法國，這個詞已經變得如此常見，以致於報紙幾乎不需要闡明它的含義，每個人都知道Gafa代表什麼：谷歌-蘋果-Facebook-亞馬遜。

In America, we tend to think of these companies as four distinct entities that compete fiercely with each other. But, in Europe, which lacks a single Internet company of comparable size and stature, they “encapsulate America’s evil Internet empire,” as Gideon Rachman put it in The Financial Times on Monday. Nine out of 10 Internet searches in Europe use Google — a more commanding percentage than in the United States — to cite but one example of their utter dominance in the countries that make up the European Union.

在美國，我們通常認爲這些公司是四個不同的實體，相互之間競爭激烈。但是在歐洲，沒有規模和地位可以與它們相提並論的互聯網公司，所以就像《金融時報》吉迪恩·拉赫曼(Gideon Rachman)本週一所說的，它們“代表了邪惡的美國互聯網帝國”。歐洲每10個互聯網搜索中就有九個使用了谷歌，這個比例比美國本土還更甚，而這只是Gafa在歐盟成員國中佔據絕對主導地位的一個例子而已。

Not surprisingly, this dominance breeds worry in Europe, however fairly it was achieved. The French fear (as the French always do) the imposition of American culture. The Germans fear the rise of an industry more efficient — and more profitable — than their own. Industry leaders, especially in publishing, telecommunications and even autos fear that the American Internet companies will disrupt their businesses and siphon away their profits. Europeans worry about the use of their private data by American companies, a worry that was only exacerbated by the Edward Snowden spying revelations. There is a palpable sense among many politicians, regulators and businesspeople in Europe that the Continent needs to develop its own Internet platforms — or, at the least, clip the wings of the big American Internet companies while there’s still time.

毫不奇怪，無論這種取得主導地位的過程有多麼公平，它都引起了歐洲人的擔心。法國（一如既往地）擔心美國文化的入侵。德國人擔心一個比本國產業更加高效、利潤更高的產業的崛起。行業領導者，特別是出版、電信，甚至汽車行業的領導者，擔心美國的互聯網公司會顛覆他們的業務，吸走他們的利潤。歐洲人擔心美國公司使用自己的私人數據，而愛德華·斯諾登(Edward Snowden)對監聽活動的曝光更是加劇了這種擔憂。歐洲大陸有很多政界、商界人士和監管者都覺得有必要開發自己的互聯網平臺，或者，至少趁現在還有時間，要捆住美國大型互聯網公司的手腳。

I bring this up in the wake of the decision by Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s relatively new (she took office in November) commissioner in charge of competition policy, to bring antitrust charges against Google, the culmination of a five-year investigation. The case revolves around whether Google took advantage of its dominance in search to favor its own comparison-shopping service over those of its rivals. Vestager also opened an inquiry into Google’s Android mobile operating system — and said the European Union would investigate other potential violations if need be.

我提起這些，是因爲歐盟新一任（她去年11月上任）的競爭事務專員瑪格麗特·韋斯塔格爾(Margrethe Vestager)在五年的調查之後對谷歌提起了反壟斷訴訟。該案的核心在於，谷歌是否利用其在搜索領域的霸主地位，讓自身的比較購物服務受益，令競爭對手處於不利境地。韋斯塔格爾還啓動了一個針對谷歌Android移動操作系統的調查，並表示如有需要，歐盟還將調查其他潛在的違規行爲。

Not long after announcing the charges, Vestager made a speech in Washington. “We have no grudge; we have no fight with Google,” she said. “In all our cases, we are indifferent to the nationality of the companies involved. Our responsibility is to make sure that any company with operations in the territory of the E.U. complies with our treaty rules.”

宣佈了針對谷歌的指控後不久，韋斯塔格爾在華盛頓發表講話。“我們不是嫉妒；我們與谷歌之間沒有宿怨，”她說。“在所有的案子中，我們都不關心所涉及的公司的國籍。我們的責任是確保在歐盟境內運營的所有公司都遵守了我們的規則。”

Well, maybe. But it is also true that, to an unusual degree, this investigation, especially in its latter stages, has been driven by politics. The political rhetoric around Google in Europe has been so heated that had Vestager decided not to bring a case, her political standing might have been weakened, “probably compromising her ability to pursue effectively other high-profile antitrust cases,” wrote Carlos Kirjner, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

也許吧。這次調查，特別是在後期，其背後的政治推動力已經到達了一種不尋常的程度，這也是事實。歐洲各地關於谷歌的政治言論極其強烈，以至於如果韋斯塔格爾不提起訴訟，她的政治地位就可能遭到削弱。“可能會危及她調查其他高調反壟斷案件的能力，”桑福德·伯恩斯坦公司(Sanford C. Bernstein)分析師卡洛斯·基里納爾(Carlos Kirjner)說。

Consider, for instance, what happened last year when Google was close to settling the case with Vestager’s predecessor, Joaquín Almunia. Google had agreed to make changes that it found cumbersome and intrusive, but it wanted to get the case behind it and move on. Instead, European politicians, especially in France and Germany, and prodded by Google’s competitors, complained that Almunía was being too accommodating to the company. “The offers by Google aren’t worthless, but they’re not nearly enough,” one such politician, Günther Oettinger of Germany, told The Wall Street Journal.

比如，想想去年穀歌快要與韋斯塔格爾的前任華金·阿爾穆尼亞(Joaquín Almunia)就這個案子達成和解的時候，發生了什麼事吧。谷歌當時已經同意進行一些改動，雖然它覺得這些改動既繁瑣，又具有侵入性，但它希望了結這個案子，把精力放在別的事上。結果歐洲的政界人士，尤其是法國和德國的，在谷歌的競爭對手的慫恿下，抱怨阿爾穆尼亞太縱容谷歌了。“谷歌的提議並非一無是處，但這還遠遠不夠，”來自德國的政界人士金特·厄廷格(Günther Oettinger)對《華爾街日報》說。

At the time, Oettinger was serving as the European Union’s energy commissioner, making him one of the 28 commissioners who would have to approve any settlement. By September, he had been nominated for a new job: commissioner for digital economy and society. At a hearing before a European Parliament committee, he took credit for blowing up the Google settlement.

當時厄廷格是歐盟能源專員，任何解決辦法都必須得到他和其他27名專員的批准。到了9月，他被提名擔任歐盟數字經濟與社會專員。在歐洲議會委員會的一個聽證會上，他因阻止了谷歌的和解而得到讚許。

As the digital commissioner, Oettinger has continued to advocate for what has become the German position on Google — namely that Google’s power must be reined in. In a speech two weeks ago, he essentially said that Europe should begin regulating Internet platforms in such a way as to allow homegrown companies to overtake the American Internet giants. And on Thursday, a document leaked from his office to The Wall Street Journal that outlined just such a plan, claiming that if nothing was done, the entire economy of Europe was “at risk” because of its dependency on American Internet companies. There have even been calls in Europe to break up Google.

作爲數字經濟專員，厄廷格一再倡導德國對谷歌的立場——谷歌的權力必須受到限制。在兩週前的一個演講中，他表達了這樣的意思：從現在開始，歐洲調整互聯網平臺的方式，應該有助於歐洲本土企業趕超美國的互聯網巨頭。上週四，他辦公室的一份文件被《華爾街日報》曝光，文件中概述的計劃聲稱，如果不採取行動，整個歐洲經濟就會因爲對美國互聯網公司的依賴而面臨“風險”。歐洲甚至還有人呼籲要分拆谷歌。

Europe has every right to regulate any company and any sector it wants. And it can bring antitrust charges as it sees fit. But given the rhetoric surrounding Google and the other American Internet giants, suspicion of Europe’s real motives is justified.

歐洲完全有權來監管他們想監管的任何公司、任何部門。只要他們認爲合適，也可以提起任何反壟斷指控。但考慮到圍繞谷歌和其他美國互聯網巨頭的論調，歐洲的真實動機還是值得懷疑的。

From here, the European charges against Google look a lot like protectionism.

從這個角度而言，歐洲對谷歌的指控看起來很像是保護主義行徑。