U.S. Government Seeks to Force Google to Sell Chrome Browser to Rectify Search ‘Monopoly’

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In a proposal that could radically alter the internet, the Justice Department is seeking to break up Google — by forcing it to divest the popular Chrome browser — as a way to end its monopoly on search.

The DOJ’s request comes after a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in August found that Google was a monopoly and that the internet giant broke the law by inking multibillion-dollar deals to make its search engine the default on web browsers and smartphones including devices from Apple and Samsung. “Google must divest Chrome, which has ‘fortified [Google’s] dominance’… so that rivals may pursue distribution partnerships that this ‘realit[y] of control’… today prevents,” the DOJ said in the filing Wednesday, citing the decision of Judge Amit Mehta. “The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the DOJ said. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.” A copy of the DOJ’s filing is available at this link.

In response, Google said the government’s “staggering proposal would hurt consumers and America’s global technological leadership.” The DOJ “chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership,” Kent Walker, president, global affairs and chief legal officer for Google and Alphabet, wrote in a blog post.