DOJ demands Google sell off Chrome in antitrust dispute – Washington Examiner
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is requiring Google to divest its Chrome browser as part of an ongoing antitrust dispute. In a proposed final judgment, the DOJ stated that Google must sell Chrome to a buyer approved by the plaintiffs, under terms subject to court approval. Additionally, the judgment seeks to prohibit Google from making payments to device manufacturers to set Google as the default search engine. It also mandates that Google share its search index with competitors and ease the process for publishers to opt-out of having their content used for AI purposes. This development follows a recent ruling by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court.
DOJ demands Google sell off Chrome in antitrust dispute
The Justice Department is telling Google to divest from its Chrome browser in an effort to be in compliance with antitrust law.
“Google must promptly and fully divest Chrome, to a buyer approved by the Plaintiffs in their sole discretion, subject to terms that the Court and Plaintiffs approve,” the Justice Department said in its proposed final judgment.
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The judgment filed on Thursday includes calls forbidding the tech giant from paying phone device makers to make Google search the default search engine, mandating Google share its search index with rivals, and also making it easier for publishers to opt-out from their content being used by Google for AI.
This comes just months after Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court of D.C. ruled in August that Google was operating as an illegal monopoly. By next summer, Mehta will lay out changes Google will need to make in order to restore competition.
Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer called the Department of Justice’s proposal “unprecedented government overreach.”
“DOJ’s wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court’s decision. It would break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives,” Walker wrote.
In 1982, AT&T was forced to divest in its local operating companies after a federal judge found it in violation of antitrust law — thus potentially making this the second time that a Big Tech company was found in violation of antitrust laws.
The Google ruling comes just months before the transition to a new presidential administration, leaving questions as to how the Trump administration will handle these court cases.
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