In their petition, CDD founder Jeff Chester and EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg said that they first learned on Monday that DoubleClick has hired Jones Day, a Washington law firm, to represent the company before the FTC. Majoras's husband, John Majoras, is an equity partner in Jones Day.

'Shocked and Disappointed'

"I was shocked and disappointed to learn this late in the proceedings that Jones Day was representing DoubleClick in this proceeding," Chester said in a telephone interview. "Chairman Majoras should have made a public announcement and recused herself the moment Jones Day was hired."

Majoras is reportedly consulting the FTC's chief ethics officer, Christian White, but representatives of the Commission downplayed the allegations of a conflict.

Chester said that the CDD and EPIC are now concerned that Jones Day is trying to rewrite history by deleting Web pages that show a relationship between Jones Day and DoubleClick. In a letter earlier today to Donald Clark, the Secretary of the FTC, Rotenberg and Chester describe two different Jones Day Web pages that have changed since concerns about potential conflict of interest have arisen.

Rewriting History

"Today," Rotenberg and Chester wrote, "EPIC and CDD are filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the Commission seeking all records concerning the relationship between Jones Day in the Google-DoubleClick matter, as well as any other matter involving Jones Day and the investigation of consumer privacy complaints or the enforcement of consumer privacy law at the Commission.

Somewhat ironically, Google has played a key role in the investigation by the consumer advocacy groups, who were able to retrieve the unaltered versions of the Jones Day web pages from the Google cache.

Among the conclusions that can be drawn from the altered Web pages, Rotenberg and Chester wrote, is that Jones Day began representing DoubleClick before November 9, 2007, and that "Jones Day has sought to conceal the nature, scope, and duration of the relationship with its client DoubleClick by altering Web pages on the firm's web site."

Decision Imminent?

Chester said he believes that the FTC's ruling on the proposed acquisition might be imminent, either just before Christmas or shortly after the New Year. "We've made it clear," Chester said, "that the merger should be rejected, unless significant conditions are imposed to protect the privacy interests of the public."

As for Majoras' continued participation in the FTC's review, Chester said that he thought she would ultimately decide to recuse herself. "She's been pretty responsible in the past," Chester said, "and given the facts of this case, it's pretty clear that she should do so."