this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab to sell off its Chrome internet browser, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plans.

The DOJ will also ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, the report said.

Google controls how people view the internet and what ads they see in part through its Chrome browser, which typically uses Google search, gathers information important to Google's ad business, and is estimated to have about two-thirds of the global browser market.

The DOJ declined to comment. Google, in a statement from Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice president, Google Regulatory Affairs, said the DOJ is pushing a "radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case," and would harm consumers.

The move would be one of the most aggressive attempts by the Biden administration to curb what it alleges are Big Tech monopolies.

Ultimately, however, the re-election of Donald Trump to the presidency could have the greatest impact over the case.

Two months before the election, Trump claimed he would prosecute Google for what he perceives as bias against him. But a month later, Trump questioned whether breaking up the company was a good idea.

The company plans to appeal once U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta makes a final ruling, which he is likely to do by August 2025. Mehta has scheduled a trial on the remedy proposals for April.

Prosecutors had floated a range of potential remedies in the case, from ending exclusive agreements where Google pays billions of dollars annually to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and other companies to remain the default search engine on tablets and smart phones, all the way to divesting parts of its business, such as Chrome and Android operating system.

Because Chrome's market share is so high, it is an important revenue driver for Google. At the same time, when users sign into Chrome with a Google account, Google can offer more targeted search ads.

Google maintains its search engine has won users with its quality, adding that it faces robust competition from Amazon (AMZN.O) and other sites and users can choose other search engines as their default.

The government has the option to decide whether a Chrome sale is necessary at a later date if some of the other aspects of the remedy create a more competitive market, the Bloomberg report said.

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[–] thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz 35 points 6 days ago (1 children)

"The DOJ is pushing radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case"

I have a feeling that this is going to become the standard defense against ANYTHING the robber barons don't like in both the courtroom and the media in coming months and years.

[–] jjlinux@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago

"And would harm consumers", don't forget that part. How many consumers have been asked about this?

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Let's hope competition other than just mozilla gets out there

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

And let's hope that KDE will revive KHTML from the grave. It's a base for Blink, Gecko, and the others.

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 1 points 5 days ago

That is older than me

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 10 points 6 days ago

I can't believe it's not google chrome

[–] electricprism@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 days ago

Fuck Monopolies

[–] eldavi@lemmy.ml 8 points 6 days ago

i hope that they do sell off chrome just to keep firefox around a little bit longer.

[–] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 days ago

Blink and it's GONE

[–] Fusty@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago

It would be good to sell the codebase for Chrome, if it actually happens.

Here's a thought expirement, what would be more devastating, selling Chrome and losing all of that tracking and ad revenue, or being to change to GPLv3 license and make chromium or Chrome libre/free software? I say GPLv3 because version 2 does allow linking to binary blobs, version 3 does not. I would predict that Chromium GPLv3 would instantly rule the entire internet and bethe de facto browser on any operating syatem.

[–] Charger8232@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago

I'm not sure if this is good or bad.