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Google calls Chrome sale proposal “extreme” remedy that contradicts the law – The Irish Times

Google calls Chrome sale proposal “extreme” remedy that contradicts the law – The Irish Times

Alphabet’s Google called the U.S. Justice Department’s plan to force it to sell its Chrome web browser “extreme” and against the law, urging a federal court judge to exercise caution to avoid not stifle innovation and future investment.

In a US court filing over the weekend, Google responded to the DOJ’s request and proposed its own remedy. The company said the proposed sale of Chrome did not fit with corporate conduct that the judge found was illegal – and which involved exclusive contracts with browsers, smartphone makers and telecommunications carriers.

“Extreme remedies are discouraged” by the courts, the company said in its filing. Remedies for anticompetitive behavior “must be of the ‘same type or class’ as the violations,” Google said.

The Justice Department and a group of states asked Judge Amit Mehta last month to order Google to sell its Chrome web browser and a series of other changes to the company’s operations in order to improve competition in the online search market.

Google said any remedy should allow competing browsers like Apple’s Safari “to have the freedom to make deals with the search engine they deem best for their users,” wrote Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice-president. -president of regulatory affairs of the company, in a blog. job. Judge Mehta ruled that it was illegal for Google to make payments to Apple and others for being the default browser provider.

Mulholland said Google’s proposal would still allow the company to share revenue with competing browsers, but would also allow multiple defaults across different platforms. This would allow device makers to preload multiple search engines and not require them to include Chrome and Google search if they want to include other Google apps.

Kamyl Bazbaz, a spokesperson for search engine competitor DuckDuckGo, said the proposal attempted to maintain the status quo.

“Once a court finds a violation of competition laws, the remedies must not only stop the illegal behavior and prevent its recurrence, but also restore competition in the affected markets,” he said. he declared.

Google’s filing is its first official response since Judge Mehta found earlier this year that the company was illegally monopolizing the online search and advertising markets. The company has said it plans to appeal, but it will only be able to do so once the case is concluded.

“If the DOJ had deemed Google’s investment in Chrome, or our development of AI, or the way we crawl the web or develop our algorithms, to be anticompetitive, it could have filed these complaints. This is not the case,” Ms. Mulholland wrote.

The judge scheduled proceedings in April to decide how to address the lack of competition in sectors dominated by Google and promised to issue a final decision by August 2025.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment and referred to the agency’s previous filings in the case. –Bloomberg/Reuters