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For several years, Uncle Sam has not been kind to its national tech giants, and various antitrust lawsuits have been launched. This is particularly the case with Google, which has suffered several legal setbacks in recent months. The Justice Department is now preparing to take action and is considering a radical measure.
Towards a dismantling of Google ?
According to our colleagues at the Wall Street Journal, the American authorities are indeed considering certain solutions in order to restore competition in the markets for applications and online search. Among the tools being considered are some restrictions that would not necessarily change the situation in the sectors concerned.
Another option would sound like a bolt from the blue: breaking up Google, in other words forcing it to separate its activities and preventing it from using its Chrome browser or its operating system to benefit its search engine.
What are the consequences for Internet users??
As one might imagine, the Mountain View firm is not remaining inert in the face of these accusations of monopoly. In a blog post published for the occasion, Google thus underlines:
This case concerns a set of search distribution contracts. Rather than focusing on this issue, the government seems to be pursuing a vast agenda that will have an impact on many sectors and products.
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The tech group also lists some potential negative consequences for its customers. First, it believes that sharing search queries could endanger users' privacy or security. Hindering Google's artificial intelligence tools would also hinder innovation.
Finally, it believes that separating Chrome and Android would likely “break” these two tools. One can imagine dire consequences for the billions of users of devices running on these solutions around the world.
Google particularly insists on this point and specifies that the “Chrome code is Open Source” and “the backbone of many competing browsers”. While Android, also open source, has allowed ” a vast choice in the smartphone market, helping to keep the price of phones low for billions of people “.
It will be interesting to follow the continuation of this affair, but we can in any case recall 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 delve deeper into this topic, feel free to check out our two previous articles that review Google's previous convictions here and there.
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