'When you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top Web sites, and can be used to manipulate stuff in various ways. I think that's unnerving.' That, according to Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, is what might face the Internet, which has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies, if Microsoft is allowed to acquire Yahoo!

Brin made the remark to the Associated Press after an event at the Googleplex, Google's HQ,  for the Google Lunar X Prize, a race to land a privately funded robotic spacecraft on the moon.

Yesterday, Microsoft's Ballmer and Ozzie announced the implementation of four new interoperability principles and corresponding actions across its high-volume business products.

'By increasing the openness of our products, we will provide developers additional opportunity to innovate and deliver value for customers,' said Ray Ozzie, Microsoft chief software architect.

• Ray Ozzie: Who Can Keep Microsoft From "Growing Old Inside"?
• Google's Competitive Advantage: It Leverages "The Power of Free"
• Google Itching To Play Spoiler on Microsoft's Yahoo! Dinner
• Microsoft Responds to Yahoo! Rejection Announcement
• Might It Now Be "Yahoo!Space" Instead of "Microhoo!"...?
• Is Yahoo! Too Large a Company to Force into Microsoft's Ways?
• Gates: Yahoo! "Should Take a Hard Look" at the Microsoft Offer
• Microsoft Reportedly Suiting Up for Proxy Battle for Yahoo!
• Microsoft Announces a Technology Sea-Change, Embraces Openness
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