Turning The Tables, Google Argues european should Justify more Aggressive Antitrust Stance
Google lays out formal felony arguments in opposition to european antitrust expenses.
As part of its defiant stance against eu antitrust costs, Alphabet (Google) is arguing that there’s no basis for assessing fines against the company, which hypothetically might amount to more than $6 billion. That’s according to a 130-web page formal legal response submitted to the eu commission that has been reviewed by using the Wall street Journal.
The WSJ costs the Google record and accuses the commission of a kind of unjustified reversal in its place vis-a-vis the company:
“the theory on which the [EU’s] preliminary conclusions relaxation is so ambiguous that the commission itself concluded 3 times that the concern had been resolved,” Google’s lawyers wrote within the document.
The response also asserts, consistent with the WSJ document, that the eu needs the corporate to successfully “subsidize opponents.” It’s now not completely clear what “subsidize” manner (i have no longer considered the record), apart from that it is going to mean any problem of Google’s control over its personal SERP benefits others no longer in a similar way restrained.
one of the vital ideas promoted to the european commission by way of Yelp and others is that Google equally subject its “own merchandise” to its algorithm (e.g., Maps, purchasing, and many others.). Google resits that concept, citing previous European fee chief Joaquín Almunia, who reportedly mentioned this wouldn’t deal with “competitors concerns.”
Google had prior to now believed it had reached a contract with Almunia, who couldn’t make it stick politically and used to be effectively overruled with the aid of European parliamentarians and different politicians in Europe who wished to look Google punished or subjected to stricter “therapies.”
Margrethe Vestager succeeded the more compromise-minded Almunia and has taken a tougher line towards the company, including suggesting that the antitrust fees and investigations are just starting.
in keeping with the WSJ report, Google is arguing that its earlier agreement concept has now not been confirmed legally insufficient. It also takes the place that the eu commission bears the burden of proving that Google is largely a public utility in this case.
at the moment, simplest the question of Google’s shopping search outcomes is formally at problem. Google argues it can’t be considered a public utility in shopping search as a result of tough competitors from other web sites, corresponding to eBay and Amazon particularly.
If the eu fee refuses to change its position, the case may just finish up in appeals, the last word resolution of which might take a number of years. Google seems to be girding for that struggle.
(Some images used below license from Shutterstock.com.)
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