The Tech Antitrust Problem No One Is Talking About: US Broadband Providers

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: After years of building political pressure for antitrust scrutiny of major tech companies, this month Congress and the US government delivered. The House Antitrust Subcommittee released a report accusing Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook of monopolistic behavior. The Department of Justice filed a complaint against Google alleging the company prevents consumers from…

Google Search Rivals Urge EU To Revisit Android Antitrust Case

A group of search engines from around the world are banding together to demand European Union regulators address Google’s dominance in the online search market. They are also urging the EU to take a closer look at Google’s controversial auction process. From a report: The news comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case, which…

‘Apple, Google and a Deal That Controls the Internet’

The New York Times’ looks at “a deal that controls the internet” — Apple’s agreement to feature Google as the preselected search engine for iPhones, saying America’s Justice Department views it “as a prime example of what prosecutors say are Google’s illegal tactics to protect its monopoly and choke off competition…” The scrutiny of the pact, which was first inked 15…

Mozilla Fears ‘Collateral Damage’ in Google Antitrust Case

Mozilla has responded to the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, but rather than commending the DOJ’s action, the Firefox browser maker has voiced concerns that its commercial partnership could make it “collateral damage” in the fight against Google’s alleged monopolistic practices. From a report: The DOJ, with support from 11 U.S. states, confirmed yesterday that it is suing…

Google Locks In Search Monopoly With $1 Billion To Carriers

Google doled out more than $1 billion last year to U.S. mobile carriers to distribute its search engine, according to the landmark antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department. From a report: The DOJ suit, filed Tuesday, details several methods Google uses to make its search the default service on browsers, smartphones and other devices. That includes deals with Apple and Android…

US To Accuse Google of Protecting Illegal Monopoly

The Justice Department plans to accuse Google of maintaining an illegal monopoly over search and search advertising in a lawsuit to be filed on Tuesday, the government’s most significant legal challenge to a tech company’s market power in a generation, according to officials at the agency. From a report: In its suit, to be filed in a federal court in Washington,…

US Antitrust Regulators Could Target Google’s Chrome Browser For Breakup

Slashdot reader alternative_right shares a report from Politico:
Justice Department and state prosecutors investigating Google for alleged antitrust violations are considering whether to force the company to sell its dominant Chrome browser and parts of its lucrative advertising business, three people with knowledge of the discussions said… The conversations — amid preparations for an antitrust legal battle that the Department of Justice…

Google is Giving Data To Police Based on Search Keywords, Court Docs Show

There are few things as revealing as a person’s search history, and police typically need a warrant on a known suspect to demand that sensitive information. But a recently unsealed court document found that investigators can request such data in reverse order by asking Google to disclose everyone who searched a keyword rather than for information on a known suspect. From…

House Democrats Tackle Big Tech ‘Monopolies’

The House Judiciary Committee says Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are monopolies — but its new plan to rein in their power won’t change anything overnight. Instead, Democratic lawmakers propose to rewrite American antitrust law in order to restructure the U.S.’s most successful and powerful industry over time. From a report: The report is a long pass down the field of…