The Justice Department has filed court documents proposing to bar tech giants from paying to sell their Chrome browser and remain the default search engine on third-party platforms as a remedy for monopolistic practices. .
register report The Department of Justice has officially filed court documents proposing that the tech giant sell its hugely popular Chrome browser. The proposed ruling would also prohibit Google from paying fees to make its search engine the default for third parties, not only for Google but also for companies like Apple and Mozilla that rely on such payments. Potentially far-reaching effects.
The Department of Justice's proposal says its main purpose is to “free the monopoly market from Google's exclusive practices, pry the monopoly market open to competition, remove barriers to entry, and ensure that practices that could lead to illegal monopolies remain.” It is stated that “to do”. The filing specifically asks Google to “quickly and completely sell Chrome” and prohibits the company from releasing another browser during the sentencing period.
This move could have a major impact on the revenue streams of companies like Apple and Mozilla. In its last financial statement, Mozilla reported $510 million in royalties out of total revenue of $594 million in 2022, and the search engine vendor has paid these royalties as default or optional for Firefox. I am. Losing payments from Google would be a major financial blow to Mozilla. Similarly, Apple could lose $18 billion to $20 billion if Google is barred from paying for making its search engine the default on Apple devices.
The proposal uses a proposed opt-out mechanism to prevent Google from prioritizing its own products and services and from scraping content to train AI models and provide summaries. It is also prohibited to punish publishers who do so. Additionally, Google must provide “eligible competitors” with access to user-side data, allowing them to submit queries and use the results as they see fit.
Other proposed remedies include opening up Google's advertising business to competition, introducing choice screens and, if Google doesn't comply with the Justice Department's demands, opening up Google's advertising business to competition. This includes the possibility of forcing a sale.
Google vehemently opposed the proposed bailout, describing it as a “radical interventionist policy that would harm the American people and America's global technology leadership.” The company argues that the proposal could jeopardize user security and privacy, “deliberately impede people's ability to access Google Search” and chill investment in AI.
Justice Amit Mehta is unlikely to rule on the proposal before late 2025. What's more, Google will likely appeal any ruling, making this a lengthy legal battle.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News, covering free speech and online censorship issues.
