Justice Department and 11 States Accuse Google of Antitrust Violations
October 20th, 2020Via: Yahoo News:
The Department of Justice, joined by 11 states with Republican attorneys general, filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday against the tech giant Google, setting off a titanic legal battle likely to last for years.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses Google of using its enormous size to illegally monopolize the market for search-generated advertising through contracts, such as an agreement with Apple to put its search engine on iPhones, to freeze out competitors.
“Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging internet. That Google is long gone,” the lawsuit said.
“The Google of today is a monopoly gatekeeper for the internet, and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet, with a market value of $1 trillion and annual revenue exceeding $160 billion,” it continued. “For many years, Google has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising — the cornerstones of its empire.”
Google called the lawsuit deeply flawed, saying, “People use Google because they choose to — not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”
The security state is not averse to monopolies, and especially when they serve to garner international hegemony. The tension between empire and democracy.