Conflict of interest at FTC could delay GoogleClick merger
Two consumer advocacy groups say FTC chairman Deborah Platt Majoras has no place judging the merit of their privacy complaints stemming from the proposed merger of Google and DoubleClick. Majoras's husband, John M. Majoras, works as an antitrust lawyer at Jones Day. DoubleClick is a firm client. That's a conflict of interest, say the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.
The FTC said its ethics division will review the situation, but noted that Jones Day has so far only represented DoubleClick before the European Commission. John Majoras claims not to be involved in this case. But as a partner in the firm, won't he profit from the case regardless of whether he works on it?