Google and Yahoo Defend Ad Alliance at a Hearing

/title: 谷歌和雅虎在听证会上为广告联盟辩护*/
Translator: Frank
Checker: Frank, Snail

GOOGLE and Yahoo lawyers defended their recent decision to partner on advertising Tuesday at a Congressional hearing, arguing that the arrangement did not violate antitrust laws and would help to keep Yahoo competitive.

谷歌和雅虎的律师们在周二的议会听证会上为他们最近联合广告的的决定辩护，就该协定不违反“反垄断法”，并能帮助雅虎保持竞争力进行辩论。

Their arguments were countered by Microsoft officials who argued that the partnership would allow Google and Yahoo to dominate more than 90 percent of the search advertising market and could significantly raise prices.

他们的协议遭到微软官员反对,微软官员们争论到伙伴关系会允许谷歌和雅虎占有90%多的搜索广告市场,从而能在相当大程度上抬高价格。

“I never felt so sorry for poor little old Microsoft,” said Representative John Conyers Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to laughter.

“我从未对小可怜老微软感到如此遗憾，” 议员John Conyers Jr.—众院司法委员会主席—开玩笑说。

In a statement, Bradford L. Smith, senior vice president and general counsel of Microsoft,said:“If search is the gateway to the Internet, and most believe that it is, this deal will put Google in a position to own that gateway and the information that flows through it. When Yahoo talks about this deal generating up to $800 million in additional revenue, that’s money out of the pockets of American businesses, big and small, who will pay higher prices for the very same ads they buy from Yahoo today.”

在一份声明中，Bradford L. Smith，微软前副总经理兼总法律顾问，说：“如果搜索是因特网的出入口，大多数人相信如此，这个协议将把谷歌置于一种位置，让它拥有那个出入口和从其流过的信息。当雅虎谈及这份协议额外产生共8亿美元的收益，那部分钱来自大大小小的美国商社，商社将为今天从雅虎买的完全相同的广告付更多的钱。

Earlier in the morning, gasps were heard throughout the hearing room when Mr. Smith testified under oath about a meeting on June 8 with Yahoo’s chief executive, Jerry Yang, in SanJose,Calif.

上午早些时候，会场到处都可听到喘息声，这时Smith先生发誓声明会和雅虎的首席执行官杨致远于6月8日在加州的圣何塞会晤。

“Jerry Yang looked across the table, looked us in the eye and said: ‘Look, the search market today is basically a bipolar market. On one pole there’s Google, and on the other pole there is Yahoo and Microsoft both competing with Google,’ ” Mr. Smith said.

“杨致远的视线掠过桌面，看着我们的眼睛，说到：‘看，今天的搜索市场基本上是两极化市场。一极是谷歌，另一极是雅虎，微软也一同跟谷歌竞争，’ ”Smith先生说。


“He said, ‘If we do this deal with Google, Yahoo will become part of Google’s pole.’ And Microsoft, he said, would not be strong enough in this market to remain a pole of its own,” Mr. Smith continued.

“他说，‘如果我们和谷歌签署这份协议，雅虎将成为谷歌一极的一部分。’至于微软，他说，将会在市场中不够强大而无法继续独占一端，”Smith先生接着说。

Michael J. Callahan, executive vice president and general counsel for Yahoo, said, “I am not going to address Mr. Smith’s characterization of Mr. Yang’s statement.” He later said that he was at the same meeting but did not recall the conversation the way Mr. Smith did.

Michael J. Callahan，雅虎执行副总裁兼总法律顾问，说，“我不会对Smith先生对杨的发言所进行的描述提出异意。”他过后说他在同一场公听会上，但回忆起的谈话不是Smith 先生说的样。

In written testimony Mr. Callahan said Microsoft had turned to Carl C. Icahn, the activist investor, to force a “fire sale” of Yahoo.

在写好的证词中Callahan先生称微软已求助于Carl C. Icahn—风险投资商—来迫使雅虎降价出售。

“Our priority is to build value for stockholders,” Mr. Callahan said. “What we will not do, however, is allow our business to be dismantled or sold off piecemeal on terms that would be disadvantageous to Yahoo stockholders and to the market as a whole.”

“我们优先考虑的事是为股东打造价值，”Callahan先生说。“我们不去做的，不论怎样，是允许我们的生意被肢解或是被按条款零星出售，那将对雅虎的股东不利，总体上对市场不利。

Mr. Callahan also said that the agreement did not affect “algorithmic” search results, maintaining that they would remain entirely Yahoo’s.

Callahan先生还说协议不会影响“演算”搜索结果，他强调“演算”搜索仍然完全是雅虎的。

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the business plan “raises the specter that one company will accumulate vast amounts of personal viewing data.”

参议员Patrick J. Leahy，参议院司法委员会主席，称该商业计划“增加了人们对某一公司会累积大量个人查看数据的恐惧感。”

Mr. Smith echoed that concern, arguing that Google would have a complete picture of Internet users’ online activities. “If that happens, Congress won’t need to enact a federal privacy policy,” he said. “We will already have a national privacy policy — Google’s privacy policy.”

Smith先生回应了这种忧虑，争论到谷歌会对英特网用户的在线活动有完整的图景。“如果那发生了，议会将不需制定联邦隐私权政策，”他说。“我们将早以拥有国家隐私权政策—谷歌的隐私权政策。

David C. Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer for Google, fired back at Microsoft, saying it was not known for being a “mom and pop shop.”

David C. Drummond，谷歌前副总经理兼首席法律事务官，回击了微软，称人们还不清楚如何建“家庭零售店”。

“Microsoft has a long history of abusing and extending its dominant positions through anticompetitive practices,” he said in a statement. “For years, Microsoft has been working to leverage that lock-in onto the freer and more open world of the Internet.”

“微软通过反竞争策略，滥用和扩展其优势地位已有时日，”他在一次声明中说。“长久以来，微软一直致力于将枷锁束缚于自由和广阔的互联网之上。”

Senator Herb Kohl , Democrat of Wisconsin, said that more information would be needed to reach a conclusion about the deal.

议员Herb Kohl，威斯康辛州民主党员，说还需更多的讯息来对此协议达成决议。

“The history of the development of the computer industry gives us reason to be cautious as we evaluate this deal,” Mr. Kohl said. “A decade ago, today’s witness, Microsoft, came dangerously close to quashing competition throughout the high-tech economy. We’re pleased that Microsoft has reformed its business practices.”

“在我们评估这项协议时，计算机产业的发展史给了我们谨慎行事的理由。”Kohl先生说。“十年前，今天的作证人，微软公司，险些近于镇压遍及高科技产业的竞争。我们欣慰的是微软已改革了它的商业策略。