Obama's antitrust pick: Microsoft 'so last century,' Google troubling

Christine Varney, nominated by President Obama to be the next U.S. antitrust chief, last year singled out Google -- not Microsoft -- as especially worthy of government scrutiny.

"For me, Microsoft is so last century," Varney said at an American Antitrust Institute conference. "They are not the problem."

Wow. Now there's a zinger. The people in Microsoft's legal department are probably loving it. The Windows team? Um, not so much. In any event, that snippet from Bloomberg merely whets the appetite and makes a nerd like me want to read everything Varney said on the subject. So I found the audio file on the AAI site and transcribed the whole passage. Enjoy.

"If any of my colleagues or friends from Google, or who represent Google, are here, I invite you to jump up and scream and yell at me. For me, Microsoft is so last century. They are not the problem. I think we’re going to continually to see a problem, potentially, with Google, who I think so far has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising lawfully. I do not think they have done anything other than be a spectacular, innovative company. I’m deeply troubled by their acquisition of DoubleClick, and I’m deeply troubled by their deal with Yahoo. I submit to you that this administration, although they may open a investigation or a review of the Google-Yahoo deal, will do nothing. I think this is a classic area to explore, how do you apply Section 2 in a highly innovative, highly networked, not terribly competitive environment."

As it happens, Varney was wrong in predicting that the Bush administration would let the Google-Yahoo deal go unopposed. Google walked away from the agreement after it became clear that the Justice Department was poised to fight it in court.

But her comments make it pretty clear which company she believes deserves the closer scrutiny nowadays.

Bloomberg quotes a White House spokesman saying that Obama nominated Varney “to vigorously enforce the law” and “is confident that she can do so in a fact-specific and evenhanded way with every matter she will face.”