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Google Draws House Antitrust Scrutiny of Internet Protocol


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Congressional antitrust investigators are vetting Google's plans to use a new Internet protocol out of worry it could limit competitors' access to consumer data. Google said the protocol would improve online security, but U.S. House Judiciary Committee investigators are inquiring whether the data gathered by the standard will be commercialized.

The new protocol would modernize the domain name system in order to encrypt online traffic and improve security, which could prevent hackers from eavesdropping on websites and spoofing. However, cable and wireless companies warn that the standard could block them from user data if browser users migrate to the protocol, which many Internet service providers (ISPs) do not support; ISPs also are concerned that Google may coax Chrome browser users to shift to protocol-supporting Google services.

Google says the browser changes will let consumers control who shares their Internet traffic data, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation is concerned about erosion of the Internet's decentralized structure.

From The Wall Street Journal
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA


 

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