this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
256 points (98.9% liked)

Technology

57435 readers
3629 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

The justice department has accused Google of using its market power to unfairly lock out rivals and position itself as a gatekeeper of the web. The case marks the first brought by the government against Google to go to trial. The justice department has also joined a separate case against Google brought by the attorneys general of 38 states and territories over monopoly concerns in advertising.

Google has denied wrongdoing in both cases and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The justice department did not immediately comment.

In filings unsealed last month, Judge Amit P Mehta tossed out a handful of charges brought against Google, narrowing the case in a slight victory for the company. He said Google was not required to defend itself against charges that the design of its search results page has harmed rivals such as Expedia or Yelp.

Still, Mehta allowed some of the more significant charges to proceed, including key arguments that Google’s exclusive contracts with phone manufacturers allegedly harmed competitors. The department alleges the company pays billions each year to “secure default status for its general search engine and, in many cases, to specifically prohibit Google’s counterparties from dealing with Google’s competitors”.

all 21 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 50 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

How much you guys wanna bet this goes nowhere but a few fines?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

All I've been seeing lately is news about possible actions against this big corporations, while they keep rolling out questionable stuff like nothing is happening.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Yea google already knows. Its just few millions, cost of doing business.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

It's still a step in the right direction, and the justice department better get used to it because there's a LOT of corporations that need taken down a peg

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

What do you mean? A fine equivalent to 0.001% of their profit is going to cripple them! They might have to fire more staff just to stay afloat. Poor Google.

Gatekeep and track everything. Pay the pennies to the law and keep raking in the profits.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (1 children)

im cautiously optimistic. Ive read that anti-trust is starting to bounce back in general. Maybe we aren't at the degree of Trust Busting from 100 years ago, but there is a chance we could see that in the next decade.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Absolutely, I want some old school trust busting. We need it badly

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Going after Google search now, as it's losing relevance, seems rather impotent. We're on the verge of a new generation of companies that can fuck with industry and society with ai. Maybe just get a jump on that instead.

But also it would be nice to see google, or any big tech, take a hit for once.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

Sometimes, and I don't know if that's possible here, it's best to go after the current thing on its way out than to try to attack a brand new thing that is gaining influence.

Depends on how specific the scope is, and whether this will set precedent for future issues.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

So they've been doing this for better than 20 years. All that is going to happen, is they'll be fined. That money will disappear into the pockets of the lawmakers and nothing will change.

Maybe they'll be brought up again in a few years when another pack of goons need more cash to pretend like they're regulating anything in favor of the people.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


The trial in a landmark antitrust case against Google is scheduled to start on Tuesday in Washington district court over charges of monopolizing the online search space.

The suit, filed by the US justice department in 2020, represents the biggest legal challenge to the power and influence of big tech in decades, and could be a bellwether in the fight against the industry’s monopolies.

The justice department has also joined a separate case against Google brought by the attorneys general of 38 states and territories over monopoly concerns in advertising.

In filings unsealed last month, Judge Amit P Mehta tossed out a handful of charges brought against Google, narrowing the case in a slight victory for the company.

Still, Mehta allowed some of the more significant charges to proceed, including key arguments that Google’s exclusive contracts with phone manufacturers allegedly harmed competitors.

While big tech has remained largely unscathed over the past few decades of unfettered success, lawsuits including these against Google could mark a changing of the tides.


The original article contains 557 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Those a-holes finally started blocking ad blockers on YouTube. I wasn't sure when it was gonna happen, but it happened today for me.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Either I only use channels that are ad free or uBlock Origin is still blocking ads for me.

What blocker are you using?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ad blocker ultimate, on Firefox. What should I be using?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

uBlock Origin on Firefox has been the best one I have ever used.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Does it prevent the "no ad blockers" warning from popping up on YouTube?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I have not seen an ad or warning about ad blockers on YouTube in years since I started using it.

To be clear it is uBlock Origin. Not "uBlock" by itself if that is still a thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

hmmm

including key arguments that Google’s exclusive contracts with phone manufacturers allegedly harmed competitors.