Holding Google's Feet to the Fire

It's an easy way for fund managers to take a stand. The motion can't pass anyway because the managers control the voting stock, so it's a free vote in favor of freedom of speech, privacy and legal resistance to oppression.

What American fund manager could refuse to stand up for those?

We're about to find out.

And it just so happens that this is going to be a poll of the biggest names in the business, including Fidelity, American Funds, Vanguard, Legg Mason and Janus, because they're all among the top owners of Google.

The stance of Fidelity, where company boss Ned Johnson is chairman of each fund's board of trustees, should be especially interesting. Not only is his company based in Boston, one of the historical cornerstones of American liberty, but the area is also home to institutions such as Harvard and MIT that exist only because of freedom of thought, speech and knowledge.

None of the fund management companies would comment on Thompson's motion when I called on Thursday. American Funds, where funds are run by different teams, would not even say who would make the decision about how it would vote. The company's (AGTHX Quote)Growth Fund of America (AGTHX) was the biggest mutual fund investor in Google as of Dec. 31, according to public filings.

Let the record show that Growth Fund of America's proxy voting report last year was signed by James F. Rothenberg, fund president and principal executive officer.