When Rhode Island police agencies were participating in an investigation into online prescription drug sales, they didn’t know they’d be eventually getting a boon. But now, after Google has been forced into paying a half-billion dollars, Rhode Island is in line to get a nice piece of the pie.
The investigation involved the illegal practice of putting websites up for shell pharmacies – pharmacies that mostly just existed on paper. These operations were sometimes linked to legitimate businesses, especially in Canada. But selling prescription drugs this way, through the Internet, is illegal – if you seek to import the drugs into the United States.
Since Google sold AdWords to Canadian pharmacies involved, and then placed those ads around the internet, Google is, in effect, participating in a criminal enterprise. They may not have known this, but even so, the proceeds from the criminal activity are fair game.
Google settled with the Justice Department over the matter and of the $500 million they received, $230 million will be distributed to the five states that helped with the investigation, including Rhode Island.
According to a report in USA Today, the breakdown for Rhode Island is:
East Providence police, North Providence police and the attorney general's office will each receive $60 million, Neronha said. State police will receive $45 million and the Rhode Island National Guard will receive $5 million. The shares are based on the time and resources each agency provided to the investigation.
In turn, Google has tightened its practices and the way it accepts advertising. The company intends to sue pharmacies who try to violate the rules and involve Google in shady or illegal practices.
The settlement and distribution of funds draws attention to just how large the problem of Internet prescription sales has become. The half-billion Google forfeited was just the revenue these companies paid for advertising – certainly a small part of their overall profits from the practice. A half-billion is a nice chunk of change.
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