Judge Sets December Deadline for DOJ to Propose Google Antitrust Penalties

Judge gives US regulators until December to propose penalties for Google's illegal search monopoly

A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Justice Department until the end of the year to outline how Google should be punished for illegally monopolizing the internet search market and then prepare to present its case for imposing the penalties next spring. The loose-ended timeline sketched out by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta came during the first court hearing since he branded Google as a ruthless monopolist in a landmark ruling issued last month. Mehta's decision triggered the need for another phase of the legal process to determine how Google should be penalized for years of misconduct and forced to make other changes to prevent potential future abuses by the dominant search engine that's the foundation of its internet empire. Attorneys for the Justice Department and Google were unable to reach a consensus on how the time frame for the penalty phase should unfold in the weeks leading up to Friday's hearing in Washington D.C., prompting Mehta to steer them down the road that he hopes will result in a decision on the punishment before Labor Day next year. To make that happen, Mehta indicated he would like the trial in the penalty phase to happen next spring. The judge said March and April look like the best months on his court calendar. If Mehta's timeline pans out, a ruling on Google's antitrust penalties would come nearly five years after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit that led to a 10-week antitrust trial last autumn. That's similar to the timeline Microsoft experienced in the late 1990s when regulators targeted them for its misconduct in the personal computer market. The Justice Department hasn't yet given any inkling on how severely Google should be punished. The most likely targets are the long-running deals that Google has lined up with Apple, Samsung, and other tech companies to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In return for the guaranteed search traffic, Google has been paying its partners more than $25 billion annually -- with most of that money going to Apple for the prized position on the iPhone. In a more drastic scenario, the Justice Department could seek to force Google to surrender parts of its business, including the Chrome web browser and Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones because both of those also lock in search traffic. In Friday's hearing, Justice Department lawyers said they need ample time to come up with a comprehensive proposal that will also consider how Google has started to deploy artificial intelligence in its search results and how that technology could upend the market. Google's lawyers told the judge they hope the Justice Department proposes a realistic list of penalties that address the issues in the judge's ruling rather than submit extreme measures that amount to "political grandstanding." Mehta gave the two sides until Sept. 13 to file a proposed timeline that includes the Justice Department disclosing its proposed punishment before 2025.

Judge gives US regulators until December to propose penalties for Google's illegal search monopoly

A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Justice Department until the end of the year to outline how Google should be punished for illegally monopolizing the internet search market and then prepare to present its case for imposing the penalties next spring. The loose-ended timeline sketched out by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta came during the first court hearing since he branded Google as a ruthless monopolist in a landmark ruling issued last month. Mehta's decision triggered the need for another phase of the legal process to determine how Google should be penalized for years of misconduct and forced to make other changes to prevent potential future abuses by the dominant search engine that's the foundation of its internet empire. Attorneys for the Justice Department and Google were unable to reach a consensus on how the time frame for the penalty phase should unfold in the weeks leading up to Friday's hearing in Washington D.C., prompting Mehta to steer them down the road that he hopes will result in a decision on the punishment before Labor Day next year. To make that happen, Mehta indicated he would like the trial in the penalty phase to happen next spring. The judge said March and April look like the best months on his court calendar. If Mehta's timeline pans out, a ruling on Google's antitrust penalties would come nearly five years after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit that led to a 10-week antitrust trial last autumn. That's similar to the timeline Microsoft experienced in the late 1990s when regulators targeted them for its misconduct in the personal computer market. The Justice Department hasn't yet given any inkling on how severely Google should be punished. The most likely targets are the long-running deals that Google has lined up with Apple, Samsung, and other tech companies to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In return for the guaranteed search traffic, Google has been paying its partners more than $25 billion annually -- with most of that money going to Apple for the prized position on the iPhone. In a more drastic scenario, the Justice Department could seek to force Google to surrender parts of its business, including the Chrome web browser and Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones because both of those also lock in search traffic. In Friday's hearing, Justice Department lawyers said they need ample time to come up with a comprehensive proposal that will also consider how Google has started to deploy artificial intelligence in its search results and how that technology could upend the market. Google's lawyers told the judge they hope the Justice Department proposes a realistic list of penalties that address the issues in the judge's ruling rather than submit extreme measures that amount to "political grandstanding." Mehta gave the two sides until Sept. 13 to file a proposed timeline that includes the Justice Department disclosing its proposed punishment before 2025.

Judge gives US regulators until December to propose penalties for Google's illegal search monopoly

A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Justice Department until the end of the year to outline how Google should be punished for illegally monopolizing the internet search market and then prepare to present its case for imposing the penalties next spring A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Justice Department until the end of the year to outline how Google should be punished for illegally monopolizing the internet search market and then prepare to present its case for imposing the penalties next spring. The loose-ended timeline sketched out by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta came during the first court hearing since he branded Google as a ruthless monopolist in a landmark ruling issued last month. Mehta's decision triggered the need for another phase of the legal process to determine how Google should be penalized for years of misconduct and forced to make other changes to prevent potential future abuses by the dominant search engine that's the foundation of its internet empire. Attorneys for the Justice Department and Google were unable to reach a consensus on how the time frame for the penalty phase should unfold in the weeks leading up to Friday's hearing in Washington D.C., prompting Mehta to steer them down the road that he hopes will result in a decision on the punishment before Labor Day next year. To make that happen, Mehta indicated he would like the trial in the penalty phase to happen next spring. The judge said March and April look like the best months on his court calendar. If Mehta's timeline pans out, a ruling on Google's antitrust penalties would come nearly five years after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit that led to a 10-week antitrust trial last autumn. That's similar to the timeline Microsoft experienced in the late 1990s when regulators targeted them for its misconduct in the personal computer market. The Justice Department hasn't yet given any inkling on how severely Google should be punished. The most likely targets are the long-running deals that Google has lined up with Apple, Samsung, and other tech companies to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In return for the guaranteed search traffic, Google has been paying its partners more than $25 billion annually -- with most of that money going to Apple for the prized position on the iPhone. In a more drastic scenario, the Justice Department could seek to force Google to surrender parts of its business, including the Chrome web browser and Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones because both of those also lock in search traffic. In Friday's hearing, Justice Department lawyers said they need ample time to come up with a comprehensive proposal that will also consider how Google has started to deploy artificial intelligence in its search results and how that technology could upend the market. Google's lawyers told the judge they hope the Justice Department proposes a realistic list of penalties that address the issues in the judge's ruling rather than submit extreme measures that amount to "political grandstanding." Mehta gave the two sides until Sept. 13 to file a proposed timeline that includes the Justice Department disclosing its proposed punishment before 2025.

Judge Gives US Regulators Until December to Propose Penalties for Google's Illegal Search Monopoly

A federal judge on Friday gave the U.S. Justice Department until the end of the year to outline how Google should be punished for illegally monopolizing the internet search market and then prepare to present its case for imposing the penalties next spring. The loose-ended timeline sketched out by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta came during the first court hearing since he branded Google as a ruthless monopolist in a landmark ruling issued last month. Mehta's decision triggered the need for another phase of the legal process to determine how Google should be penalized for years of misconduct and forced to make other changes to prevent potential future abuses by the dominant search engine that's the foundation of its internet empire. Attorneys for the Justice Department and Google were unable to reach a consensus on how the time frame for the penalty phase should unfold in the weeks leading up to Friday's hearing in Washington D.C., prompting Mehta to steer them down the road that he hopes will result in a decision on the punishment before Labor Day next year. To make that happen, Mehta indicated he would like the trial in the penalty phase to happen next spring. The judge said March and April look like the best months on his court calendar. If Mehta's timeline pans out, a ruling on Google's antitrust penalties would come nearly five years after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit that led to a 10-week antitrust trial last autumn. That's similar to the timeline Microsoft experienced in the late 1990s when regulators targeted them for its misconduct in the personal computer market. The Justice Department hasn't yet given any inkling on how severely Google should be punished. The most likely targets are the long-running deals that Google has lined up with Apple, Samsung, and other tech companies to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In return for the guaranteed search traffic, Google has been paying its partners more than $25 billion annually -- with most of that money going to Apple for the prized position on the iPhone. In a more drastic scenario, the Justice Department could seek to force Google to surrender parts of its business, including the Chrome web browser and Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones because both of those also lock in search traffic. In Friday's hearing, Justice Department lawyers said they need ample time to come up with a comprehensive proposal that will also consider how Google has started to deploy artificial intelligence in its search results and how that technology could upend the market. Google's lawyers told the judge they hope the Justice Department proposes a realistic list of penalties that address the issues in the judge's ruling rather than submit extreme measures that amount to "political grandstanding." Mehta gave the two sides until Sept. 13 to file a proposed timeline that includes the Justice Department disclosing its proposed punishment before 2025. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Federal judge gives DOJ deadline to decide Google's antitrust punishment

The loose-ended timeline sketched out by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta came during the first court hearing since he branded Google as a ruthless monopolist in a landmark ruling issued last month. Mehta's decision triggered the need for another phase of the legal process to determine how Google should be penalized for years of misconduct and forced to make other changes to prevent potential future abuses by the dominant search engine that's the foundation of its internet empire. Attorneys for the Justice Department and Google were unable to reach a consensus on how the time frame for the penalty phase should unfold in the weeks leading up to Friday's hearing in Washington D.C., prompting Mehta to steer them down the road that he hopes will result in a decision on the punishment before Labor Day next year. To make that happen, Mehta indicated he would like the trial in the penalty phase to happen next spring. The judge said March and April look like the best months on his court calendar. If Mehta's timeline pans out, a ruling on Google's antitrust penalties would come nearly five years after the Justice Department filed the lawsuit that led to a 10-week antitrust trial last autumn. That's similar to the timeline Microsoft experienced in the late 1990s when regulators targeted them for its misconduct in the personal computer market. The Justice Department hasn't yet given any inkling on how severely Google should be punished. The most likely targets are the long-running deals that Google has lined up with Apple, Samsung, and other tech companies to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. In return for the guaranteed search traffic, Google has been paying its partners more than $25 billion annually -- with most of that money going to Apple for the prized position on the iPhone. In a more drastic scenario, the Justice Department could seek to force Google to surrender parts of its business, including the Chrome web browser and Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones because both of those also lock in search traffic. In Friday's hearing, Justice Department lawyers said they need ample time to come up with a comprehensive proposal that will also consider how Google has started to deploy artificial intelligence in its search results and how that technology could upend the market. Google's lawyers told the judge they hope the Justice Department proposes a realistic list of penalties that address the issues in the judge's ruling rather than submit extreme measures that amount to "political grandstanding." Mehta gave the two sides until Sept. 13 to file a proposed timeline that includes the Justice Department disclosing its proposed punishment before 2025.

Judge Sets 2025 Timeline for Remedies to Google's Search Monopoly

A federal judge said on Friday that he planned to deliver a punishment for Google's internet search monopoly by August 2025, kicking off a new phase in an antitrust case that could reshape the tech giant and change competition on the internet. At a hearing to establish a timeline for determining remedies in the case, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia asked the Justice Department and states to submit a proposal by the end of the year. After that, the judge will hold a new trial to hear evidence on how to proceed, which is expected to take place in March or April. Judge Mehta also signaled that he would take into account the swiftly changing technology landscape, including potential new competition from artificially intelligent chatbots from companies like OpenAI and Microsoft. "The world has changed since discovery closed two years ago," Judge Mehta said, adding that Google and Microsoft have added A.I. into their search and that OpenAI's chatbot is being used for search. Last month, Judge Mehta declared Google a monopolist in internet search. He said Google had established and cemented its more than 90 percent share of the search market through exclusive contracts with companies like Apple to feature Google instead of other search engines. A decision on how to fix Google's monopoly could help set a precedent for other federal antitrust cases brought against Amazon, Apple and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. Regulators in recent years have sued the companies over allegations that they created monopolies that affect public discourse, commerce and entertainment. Proposed remedies could include restrictions on deals that feature Google's search engine on mobile devices or even a breakup of the company. The Department of Justice is weighing asking for a breakup of Google, and separating search from businesses like its Chrome browser and Android operating system. Judge Mehta's consideration of remedies will include a period of investigation into penalties and hearings. Google's billions of dollars of business deals to make its search engine the default on Apple's Safari browser and other software and mobile devices factored heavily into Judge Mehta's previous ruling. That hurt rivals including Microsoft's Bing. A Justice Department lawyer, David Dahlquist, said at the hearing on Friday that the world had changed since it closed the process of gathering evidence for the trial two years ago. The government wants to call several third parties as witnesses as it comes up with a proposal for remedies. "The trial was, of course, focused on the past, what Google has done for the past decade to monopolize those markets," Mr. Dahlquist said. Now evidence needs to be collected "on the future," he added. "How do we open up those markets?" Google's lead lawyer said he planned to call witnesses from OpenAI and Microsoft.

Google's punishment for illegal search monopoly to be determined next summer

The judge set a courtroom schedule for the remedy phase of the Justice Department's landmark case against the internet giant. Having already ruled that Google operates its search engine as an illegal monopoly, a federal judge on Friday said he intends to decide by next summer on the consequences, which could include the breakup of one of America's largest companies. In the initial phase of the Justice Department's monopoly trial against Google's search business -- the first such case against a major tech company in decades -- Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last month that the Alphabet unit violated antitrust law through business practices spanning more than a decade that helped ensure its search engine remained No. 1. The second phase will determine what so-called remedies Mehta deems sufficient to restore competition to the online search engine market, ranging from targeted actions to breaking up Google. At a status conference Friday afternoon, Mehta said he would hold an evidentiary hearing in March or April next year and issue his opinion by early August. He asked the Justice Department to share its proposed remedies with Google as soon as possible in the coming months, so both sides could begin discovery. David Dahlquist, an acting deputy director in the Justice Department antitrust division, told Mehta that prosecutors planned to meet with industry stakeholders to gather opinions before drafting their proposal. "We want to get their thoughts on how to restore competition," he said. John Schmidtlein, Google's lead litigator, expressed concern after Dahlquist said the Justice Department was interested in potential remedies that may affect Google's emerging AI business, which it has begun to integrate into its search engine. Prosecutors are hoping to prevent Google from leveraging its search monopoly to unfairly dominate the next generation of technologies, such as artificial intelligence. "We need to know what the actual proposal is as soon as possible," Schmidtlein said. "The devil really is in the details here." The case, U.S. et al v. Google, was filed by the Trump administration's Justice Department in 2020 and taken to court last year under the Biden administration. It was the first of two Justice Department monopoly cases against Google; the second one, which centers on the company's online advertising business, goes to trial on Monday in federal court in Virginia. In the search case, prosecutors accused Google of illegally using payments to device makers to ensure that iPhones and almost all other smartphones sold in the United States came pre-installed with Google search as the default. These contracts helped Google's search engine maintain its 90 percent market share, allowing Google to funnel business to its own advertising platform and other services. Mehta ruled on Aug. 5 that Google violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, in what U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland declared a "historic win for the American people." Google said its search engine has succeeded because it's the best one available and that it would appeal. The Justice Department has yet to say what remedies it will seek in the case. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has been leading a group of states that joined the Justice Department lawsuit, said in an interview last month that his team is looking into breaking up Google, along with other options, such as a potential ban on the company paying phone makers to pre-install Google search. Weiser said the goal of the state attorneys general would be to agree on a united stance with federal prosecutors on remedies, though they could submit separate proposals. The timeline of the trial pushes a final decision until after the election, adding the complexity of a possible new presidential administration. In the last similar case, the Justice Department dropped its effort to break up Microsoft in 2001, after George W. Bush, who had expressed concerns during the campaign about breaking up the company, became president. Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have not publicly commented on the prospect of a Google breakup. The company is also facing a number of other antitrust challenges, including an investigation in the European Union and a recently filed lawsuit by online reviews company Yelp.