In recent years, Uncle Sam has not been kind to his national Tech giants, and various antitrust lawsuits have been launched. This is particularly the case of Google, which has suffered several legal setbacks in recent months. The Ministry of Justice is now preparing to take action and is considering a radical measure.
Towards a dismantling of Google?
According to our colleagues at Wall Street Journalthe American authorities are indeed considering certain solutions in order to restore competition in the applications and online search markets. Among the tools studied, there are certain restrictions which would not necessarily change the situation in the sectors concerned.
Another option would sound like a bolt from the blue: dismantle Google, in other words force it to separate its activities and prevent it from using its Chrome browser or its operating system to benefit its search engine.
What consequences for Internet users?
As one can imagine, the Mountain View firm does not remain inert in the face of these accusations of monopoly. In a blog post published for the occasion, Google underlines:
This case concerns a set of research distribution contracts. Rather than focusing on this issue, the government appears to be pursuing a broad agenda that will impact many sectors and products.
The technology group also lists some potential unfortunate consequences for its customers. He believes first of all that sharing search queries could endanger the privacy or security of users. The hindrance of Google’s artificial intelligence tools would also hinder innovation.
Finally, he believes that separating Chrome and Android would be likely to “break” these two tools. We can imagine unfortunate consequences for the billions of device users who use these solutions around the world.
Google particularly emphasizes this point and specifies that the “Chrome code is Open Source” et “the backbone of many competing browsers”. While that of Android, also open source, allowed “huge choice in the smartphone market, helping to keep phone prices low for billions of people”.
It will be interesting to follow the outcome of this affair, but we can in any case remember that cases of dismantling are extremely rare in the United States and that the last one dates back to 1984 and concerned the operator AT&T. If you want to explore this subject in more depth, do not hesitate to consult our two previous articles which review Google’s previous convictions here and there.
???? To not miss any news from Presse-citron, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.
Related News :