欧盟委员会对谷歌(Google)进行反垄断调查

2014-10-10 15:08:27来源：可可英语

　　This is the vision that already informs Google Now, Google’s flagship virtual assistant –available on smartphones and in the Chrome browser – which draws on all the information atGoogle’s disposal. It provides traffic information, reminds users of upcoming travelreservations, announces trendy restaurants nearby, shows film listings at local cinemas, andmuch else. Such insights are possible because Google studies our search habits, tracks ouremails, and understands our location. The company argues that, far from occupying adominant position, it is a sitting duck for any start-up that comes up with a better algorithm.But in truth, it is Google’s vast repository of data that sets it apart – and here it has such a bighead start that no competitor is likely to catch up.

　　这一设想已在可下载于智能手机和Chrome浏览器的谷歌旗舰虚拟助手——Google Now——中有所体现。该服务可以让一切信息为谷歌所用。它能提供路况信息，提醒用户即将到来的旅行预订，告诉他们附近的时尚饭店，显示当地电影院的放映单，等等。它之所以具备这种预见能力，是因为谷歌研究我们的搜索习惯，追踪我们的电邮，掌握我们所处位置。谷歌声称自己绝对没有占据支配地位，任何一家研究出更好算法的初创企业都能对其构成致命冲击。但事实上，谷歌掌握的海量数据让它与众不同，它在这方面拥有如此巨大的领先优势，以致没有哪家竞争对手可能追上它。

　　Still, if there is a problem with Google’s ambitions, the commission has yet to put its finger onit. That is because Europe has come under the spell of American neoliberalism, with itsunashamed celebration of monopolies in the name of consumer welfare and market efficiency.It is time to recover the almost-forgotten language of politics, and treat users as citizens firstand consumers second.

　　尽管如此，如果说谷歌的雄心壮志有什么问题的话，欧盟委员会还没有确切地指出来。这是因为，欧洲已被美国的新自由主义所迷惑了——新自由主义打出消费者福祉和市场效率的幌子，厚颜无耻地赞美垄断。现在是时候找出几乎被忘记的政治语言，首先把用户当公民对待、然后再把他们当消费者对待了。

　　The dangers are real. By coupling advertising with the pre-emptive possibilities of itsserendipity engine, Google could turn citizens into automata, who entertain an illusion of freewill while living in a world of options, nudges and suggestions generated by autonomousalgorithms optimised for profit alone.

　　危险是真实存在的。谷歌把广告与“巧遇引擎”先知先觉的种种可能结合起来，就可能把公民变成机器人——他们将一方面沉浸在自由意志的幻觉中，另一方面却生活在一个由选项、推送和建议组成的世界里，而这些选项、推送和建议是由仅为盈利目的而优化的自主算法生成的。

　　It is also shortsighted to allow Google to guard the key to a trove of user data that could doimmense good if, once suitably cleaned up and anonymised, it were placed in public hands.

　　允许谷歌保管用户数据宝库的钥匙也是短视的。一旦这些数据进行适当清理并隐去姓名，然后交到公众手中，就可能会带来巨大好处。

　　Google is not the ideal information intermediary and it might be making it harder for betterones to emerge. This should prompt greater regulatory scrutiny of its power, but that alonewill not suffice. A pressing task for Brussels is to create the conditions in which a strong andgenuinely European alternative for information-sharing – and not just another Google but withan EU address – can thrive.

　　谷歌不是理想的信息中介，它可能让更好的信息中介的出现变得更困难。为此监管机构应加大对谷歌权力的审查力度，但仅靠这一点还不够。欧盟委员会的一项紧迫任务，是创造条件，让一家实力强大、真正欧洲的信息共享机构——而不是仅仅一家注册于欧盟地区、但跟谷歌一样的公司——能够成长壮大。

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