Oct 21, 2020 10:43:00

Google is sued by the Justice Department for 'antitrust violations'

by

Thomas Hawk

On October 20, 2020, the US Department of Justice announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Google on suspicion of violating antitrust laws. The Justice Department has positioned this proceeding as a serious proceeding following the 1974 AT & T proceedings and the 1998 Microsoft proceedings.

Justice Department Sues Monopolist Google For Violating Antitrust Laws | OPA | Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-monopolist-google-violating-antitrust-laws

A deeply flawed lawsuit that would do nothing to help consumers
https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/response-doj/

On October 20, the Justice Department said, 'Preventing Google from illegally maintaining a monopoly in the search and search advertising market through anti-competitive and exclusive practices, and correcting competitive harm. Therefore, we have filed a lawsuit against the Civil Antitrust Law in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. ' In addition to the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General of 11 states such as Arkansas and Florida are said to have joined the lawsuit.

Attorney General William Barr of the Justice Department said in a statement, 'Today, many people rely on the Internet and online platforms every day, and competition in this industry is crucial. Therefore, the gatekeeper of the Internet. This proceeding, which challenges the violation of Google's antitrust law, is a monumental case not only for the Justice Department but also for the American people. '

Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said, 'Similar to historical antitrust violations against AT & T and Microsoft, the ministry has once again invoked the Sherman Act , the central antitrust law, against Google. It will revive competition and open the door to the next innovation, 'he said, saying the law against Google is a major historic lawsuit.

In the United States, there has been a growing belief that Google has violated antitrust laws for some time, and the antitrust department of the Justice Department has been investigating major IT companies, including Google, since July 2019. In July 2020, the Antitrust Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee of the United States convened Google CEO Sundar Pichai at a hearing to hear.

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In addition to Google, CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, and Apple were also convened at the hearing, but the most frequently asked question was the problem of ' preferring our products in the results of Google search ' to Google. was. It is believed that this is the reason why the Justice Ministry has filed a lawsuit focusing on Google's search and search advertising market rather than Google's advertising business in general.

Google's senior vice president of international affairs, Kent Walker, updated the official blog on the 20th, saying, 'Today's proceedings by the Justice Department have a major flaw. It may force people to use Google. Not because I couldn't find an alternative, but because I chose it. ' Microsoft has set the default search engine of the browser Edge of Windows devices to Bing, and even with products where Google is the default search engine, consumers can easily change the search engine. He pointed out and denied allegations of violating antitrust laws.

The Justice Department's suit is expected to be protracted as Google shows its opposition. The New York Times noted that the 1998 Microsoft proceedings had been prolonged for more than a decade, saying that 'this proceeding to Google is likely to live longer than the Trump administration.'