Google called the plan of the US Department of Justice, which seeks to force the IT giant to sell the Chrome browser to fight the company’s monopoly in the field of Internet search, “extreme” that is contrary to current law. The Internet giant also urged the federal judge to exercise caution as his decision could have a negative impact on future innovation.
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In a court filing that Google filed late this week, the company responded to the Justice Department’s demands and put forward its proposals to resolve the current situation. Google said the sale of Chrome was disproportionate to the company’s actions, which the court found illegal. We are talking about concluding exclusive contracts with browser developers, smartphone manufacturers and telecom operators, due to which the Google search engine was used by default in applications and on third-party devices. The statement notes that remedies for anti-competitive behavior must be proportionate to the violations, while selling Chrome is an extreme case.
Let us recall that last month the US Department of Justice and prosecutors in several states asked Judge Amit Mehta, who is considering the antitrust lawsuit against Google, with a request to oblige the Internet giant to sell its Chrome web browser, as well as make a number of other changes to its activities. , to break its monopoly in the search market and increase the level of competition in this segment. Mehta previously issued a ruling that outlawed Google’s practice of contracting with software and device developers to make Google’s search engine the default search engine in third-party products.
Google’s court filing was the company’s first official response since Mehta sided with the prosecution earlier this year, agreeing that the tech giant was illegally monopolizing the online search and advertising markets. The company also announced its intention to file an appeal, but it will be able to do this only after the completion of the consideration of the case and a court decision. The trial will resume in April next year, and the judge is expected to make a final decision by August 2025.