Washington – The Department of Justice and Google return to court Friday for closing arguments in the remedies portion of the online search antitrust case.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found Google’s profit-sharing agreements with other companies were anticompetitive. In response, the DOJ has pushed for aggressive remedies, including seeking a break-up or divestment of unrelated Google services. In doing so, the proposed remedies go far beyond the scope of Judge Mehta’s ruling, putting at risk products and services that consumers love.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for competition in the tech industry for more than 50 years, having aligned with the DOJ in past cases, including the IBM, AT&T, and Microsoft matters.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President and CEO Matt Schruers:
“The government’s proposed remedies are detached from its case, and would work primarily to the advantage of competitors. Structural remedies that weaken US companies risk handing an economic advantage to adversaries abroad. U.S. antitrust policy was meant to encourage robust competition, not pick winners and losers.
“The DOJ remedies that will be proposed in closing arguments this week are aspirational and out of scope, and if adopted, would alter antitrust precedent in ways that would end up harming competition and consumers.”
