DOJ files federal antitrust lawsuit against Google

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Google, charging the tech giant violated federal antitrust laws.

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The suit, filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., accuses Google, a unit of Alphabet, of illegally maintaining its monopoly over search through exclusive business contracts and agreements that prevent competition, The New York Times reported.

“Google is the gateway to the internet and a search advertising behemoth,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen told reporters. “It has maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary practices that are harmful to competition.”

The Justice Department is not seeking specific changes in Google’s structure or other remedies right now, but is not ruling out seeking additional relief, according to The Associated Press.

In a tweet, Google called the lawsuit “deeply flawed.”

“People use Google because they choose to -- not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives,” the company tweeted.

Google controls about 80% of search queries in the United States, the newspaper reported. The contracts and agreements with phone makers using Alphabet’s Android operating system to preload the search engine on the device, make it difficult for rival search engines to compete, the lawsuit alleges.

The government alleges Google unlawfully prohibits competitors' search applications from being preloaded on phones under revenue-sharing arrangements, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives. Competition in this industry is vitally important, which is why today’s challenge against Google -- the gatekeeper of the Internet -- for violating antitrust laws is a monumental case both for the Department of Justice and for the American people,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “Since my confirmation, I have prioritized the Department’s review of online market-leading platforms to ensure that our technology industries remain competitive. This lawsuit strikes at the heart of Google’s grip over the internet for millions of American consumers, advertisers, small businesses and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist.”

The Justice Department began scrutinizing Google as part of a review last summer, The Washington Post reported. Federal officials voiced “widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online,” the newspaper reported.

In September, Google gave the Justice Department sensitive documents to assist in the investigation, the company said in a securities filing.

Eleven states joined the complaint, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas, according to public court records.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Nebraska, tweeted Tuesday that the lawsuit “is the most important antitrust case in a generation.”

“But to be clear -- this is just a first step, and I will continue to fight for the legislative solutions needed to end the tyranny of Big Tech,” Hawley tweeted.

William Kovacic, former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, told CNN that Tuesday’s lawsuit is the most important tech industry monopoly case since 1998′s United States v. Microsoft case. In that case, the federal government alleged Microsoft broke the law by bundling its Internet Explorer browser with every copy of Windows, which stifled competition among other browser makers.

“As with its historic antitrust actions against AT&T in 1974 and Microsoft in 1998, the Department is again enforcing the Sherman Act to restore the role of competition and open the door to the next wave of innovation -- this time in vital digital markets,” Rosen said in the DOJ’s news release.

After several years of litigation, both parties reached a settlement that imposed new limitations on Microsoft’s software business, CNN reported.

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