(VitalNews.Org) – After first launching a case against the tech company in 2020, the US federal government finally kicked off a court battle with Google.
In the trial, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will present its argument that the big tech company is guilty of abusing its power to dominate the internet search engine market as a monopoly. This is the first monopoly case of the modern digital era and the first major case of its kind launched by the government in decades.
The foundation of the DOJ’s case is the claim by the government that business dealings were illegally orchestrated by Google in such a way that their site would be the first one seen by customers when turning on their desktop web browsers and smartphones. The DOJ argues the point of Google’s tactics was to eliminate competition.
In the original complaint, the DOJ said that “Google became the darling of Silicon valley” over twenty years ago “as a scrappy start-up” that innovated a new “way to search the emerging internet,” which had just been invented, but that now that company “is now gone.”
When the lawsuit was first launched in 2020, Google responded and called the case “deeply flawed” and said it “would do nothing to help customers.” At the time, former Attorney General William Barr said the case “strikes at the heart” of the company’s “grip over the internet” for millions of users “beholden to an unlawful monopolist.”
Three years on, depositions have been obtained from over 150 people, and millions of pages in documentation have been gathered in the case. The trial will be presided over by Judge Amit Mehta and will last around three months. If Mehta rules in favor of the DOJ, it’s not clear yet what kind of sanctions will be enacted against Google, which could range from simple fines to a radical restructuring of the entire company.
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