The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Google are set to present closing arguments on Friday in the remedies phase of the antitrust case concerning Google's online search practices. Last year, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta determined that Google's profit-sharing agreements with other companies were anticompetitive. The DOJ is now seeking significant remedies, including potentially breaking up or divesting parts of Google unrelated to the case at hand.
These proposed remedies have been criticized for extending beyond Judge Mehta's ruling and potentially jeopardizing popular consumer products and services. The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which has supported competition in the tech industry for over five decades, has voiced its concerns.
CCIA President and CEO Matt Schruers stated: "The government’s proposed remedies are detached from its case, and would work primarily to the advantage of competitors. Structural remedies that weaken US companies risk handing an economic advantage to adversaries abroad. U.S. antitrust policy was meant to encourage robust competition, not pick winners and losers."
Schruers further commented on the DOJ's approach: "The DOJ remedies that will be proposed in closing arguments this week are aspirational and out of scope, and if adopted, would alter antitrust precedent in ways that would end up harming competition and consumers."