The information commissioner gave Facebo

题库2022-08-02  27

问题 The information commissioner gave Facebook a rap over the knuckles earlier this month,putting the company on notice of likely fines-the equivalent of a few minutes'revenue-for breaches of privacy.On Wednesday the European commission gave Google a vigorous correction,fining it¢4.3 billion for abusing its market dominance with the AndrOJd operating system which powers the overwhelming majority of the world's mobile phones.Google is appealing.The billions of euros at stake aside,it is easy to see why.Google gives most of Android away,not only to the consumers who use it,but to the companies that build their phones around it.As the company points out,there are more than 24,000 competing Android phones available today,from 1,300 companies.How can that possibly constitute a harmful monopoly?Besides,Google has real competition in the smartphone world from Apple.At the same time,these are exactly the factors that make the commission's decision so interesLing and significant.For Google's business to work,it must become as easy as possible for advertisers to reach users.That is the purpose of all the software that Google gives away,from the Android operating system,through to YouTube,Google search on phones and the Chrome browser.This might look like a cross-subsidy,but on the other hand it is the heart of the company's business.The software that Google gives away is not designed to make a profit on its own.This free version does not include the bits that make a phone useful for anything but making telephone calls,and this was the weak spot in Google's defence.None of the enticements-the mail,the search,the maps and the browser-are included.These can only be used with a proprietary chunk of software that Google controls;and manufacturers who want to use the Play store and 11 crucial Google apps must agree not to build so much as a single phone that does not include them.It is all or nothing.This licensing trick is the way in which Google has undoubtedly limited competition.The commission's decision to punish it probably comes too late to undo the damage it has done.All digital businesses tend towards a monopoly,and this is in part because in some important ways they benefit consumers more the larger they grow.Yet as customers we pay for this in other ways and as citizens even more so,not least because the companies fattened by monopoly profits grow too large to fail and too powerful to challenge.There is a public interest in preventing any company from acquiring almost unlimited power.Regulation defends democracy.In responding to the commission's decision,Google argues thatA.the fine is too heavy Ior the company to pay.B.the smartphone market is highly competitive.C.the company ought to control most of Android.D.Apple is more likely to constitute a monopoly.

选项 A.the fine is too heavy Ior the company to pay.
B.the smartphone market is highly competitive.
C.the company ought to control most of Android.
D.Apple is more likely to constitute a monopoly.

答案 B

解析 第二段首先指出谷歌(就欧委会的处罚决定)提出了申诉。随后强调谷歌观点:一、谷歌已将安卓系统大部分内容无偿送给消费者和制造商,这使得市场上有超过24000款安卓手机在相互竞争,且这些手机来自1300家公司。二、谷歌在智能手机领域还面临苹果公司的竞争(并非安卓一家垄断)。可见,谷歌认为智能手机市场竞争非常激烈,安卓不但没有垄断市场,反而促进了竞争,B.正确。[解题技巧]A.利用②句提及的“数十亿欧元(The billions of euros)”臆造出谷歌认为罚款太重而无法承受.但该句意在指出.此处涉及的申诉原因不包括罚款数额。C.对③句“谷歌无偿送出了安卓系统的大部分内容”过度推导,得出“谷歌认为自己应收回对安卓系统的控制”,但文中并未提及这一信息。D.源自⑥句.但该句只是说明谷歌在智能手机市场面临苹果公司的竞争,并没有暗示苹果公司更可能造成垄断。
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