If we let Google continue its anticompetitive ways, we will lose the next wave of innovators and Americans may never get to benefit from the “next Google.” The time has come to restore competition to this vital industry.
Let's look at how the contenders stack up:
| Dept of Justice | ||
|---|---|---|
| Staff | 113k | 114k |
| Budget/Turnover | $29.9 Bn | $161 Bn (2019) |
I'd hazard a guess that the DoJ outguns Google in number of lawyers employed, but with Google's free cash flow they can buy all the lawyers in the world. Something we're more than aware of as we line up against them (and Facebook) in Australia's courts.
Yesterday I dialled into and rebroadcast the press announcement of the DoJ's anti-trust case against Google. It's of limited interest though the specific questions asked by the media always tell you the direction in which coverage will go. I can't point to anything unusual. Someone asked the inevitable TDS question about how much Trump had to do with this case opening up now. They get a very certain: "absolutely nothing" answer.
Epoch Times tried to mix this case up with the very separate Section 230 work and that was also brushed off (it was not a great question).
But it is this paragraph that really is the take away from the whole thing right now.
Twenty-five years ago, the Department of Justice sued Microsoft, paving the way for a new wave of innovative tech companies – including Google. The increased competition following the Microsoft case enabled Google to grow from a small start-up to an Internet behemoth. Unfortunately, once Google itself gained dominance, it resorted to the same anticompetitive playbook. If we let Google continue its anticompetitive ways, we will lose the next wave of innovators and Americans may never get to benefit from the “next Google.” The time has come to restore competition to this vital industry.
The DoJ is a little bit over enthusiastically claiming that their prosecution of Microsoft in the '80s "enabled Google to grow" but they definitely helped Google out back then.
But it is that last part that also forms the very basis of our contention in our #CryptoClassAction against Facebook, Google and the rest of big tech. The wider concepts of crypto and blockchain tech, specifically and critically targeted by advertising bans in early 2018, directly attacked very promising competitors.
And now, with crypto looking to rise again, stronger than ever, it proves that the industry Google tried to destroy is a viable competitor, even Google and Facebook together didn't have the power to crush it.
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