Germany is mulling stricter regulation of Google and other search providers, and might seek a break-up of US-based Google if it did not get its way, dpa a spokesman in Berlin said Friday. US-based Google has been heavily criticized by major German media groups which have requested a share of revenues from news searches. It has also faced a European Union inquiry since 2010 into whether it discriminates against competitors. "The Economics Ministry is studying whether, over and above existing competition laws, consideration should be given to integrating regulation of search-engine access into the general regime of network neutrality at the European level," said Stefan Rouenhoff. He spoke hours after his minister, Sigmar Gabriel, published an article in a national newspaper calling for "unrestricted data capitalism to be restrained and tamed." He suggested in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Google could be "unbundled" as a last resort if nothing else stopped it. Philipp Justus, chief executive of Google Germany, rejected the criticism. "We're astonished by the minister's attitude that companies like Google harm consumers, the economy and society," he said. Justus said search was developed to serve people and his company cooperated with thousands of other companies globally including in Germany. Germany's competition authority, the Federal Cartel Office, responded cautiously. Its president, Andreas Mundt, said Google had already made significant concessions to the European Commission in an inquiry due to end in a few weeks. "What's forbidden is not that a company is big, but abuse of a dominant market position," he said. -- SPA 18:25 LOCAL TIME 15:25 GMT تغريد
