Google Hum To Search
United States versus Google could very well become the trial of the century or at least the anti-trust case of the century. Legal scholars and business leaders the world over see the federal case, which was brought over what the US government alleges are Google’s anti-trust/monopolistic activities, as a test case that could have ripple effects on all of the biggest tech firms like Apple, Microsoft and Facebook.
Google, for its part, complains that the company is being targeted just because of its success. And if Google loses it could make it harder for the firm to prevent a forced break-up – the spinning off into separate companies parts of the Google Empire – that many politicians in the US are calling for. This could mean forcing Google to sell off some of its main businesses like its Android operating system or the search engine itself that made the company a success.
Other firms like Microsoft would also be in danger of being broken up. In Microsoft’s case the company could be made to unload Windows and/or its Office suite of programs.
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At the core of the lawsuit is the allegation that Google paid firms $10 billion to have its search engine placed as the default search engine on mobile devices.
Kenneth Dintzer, the lead attorney for the Department of Justice in the case told the judge in his opening statement, “This wheel has been turning for more than 12 years. And it always turns to Google’s advantage. They turned history off, your honor, so they could rewrite it here in this courtroom.”
“This case is about the future of the internet and whether Google’s search engine will ever face meaningful competition,” he added. “Your honor, this is a monopolist flexing.”
In his opening statement, a Google’s lawyer John E. Schmidtlein said, “Users today have more search options and more ways to access information online than ever before,”
Writing in the New York Times, Columbia University law professor Tim Wu said the case is really about the future.
“But the true focus of the trial, like that of the Federal Trade Commission’s coming trial of Facebook’s parent company, Meta, on monopolization charges, is on the future,” wrote WU. “For the verdict will effectively establish the rules governing tech competition for the next decade, including the battle over commercialized artificial intelligence, as well as newer technologies we cannot yet envision.”
The trial is expected to last for more than two months.
