Google on Thursday requested {that a} decide, relatively than a jury, determine whether or not it violated U.S. antitrust legal guidelines by constructing a monopoly on the know-how that powers internet advertising.
To bolster its case, the tech big wrote a multimillion-dollar test to the U.S. authorities that it says renders moot the federal government’s greatest argument for demanding a jury trial.
The antitrust case set to go earlier than a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, in September is one in all two main lawsuits the Justice Division has introduced in opposition to Google. Whereas the Virginia case focuses on promoting know-how, an ongoing case within the District of Columbia focuses on Google’s dominance as a search engine.
Each side within the D.C. case have introduced proof and made closing arguments. A decide there’ll determine whether or not Google violated the regulation.
Google desires a decide to determine the deserves of the case in Virginia, as effectively. The corporate argues in courtroom papers filed Thursday that it’s unprecedented for a jury to determine a federal antitrust case introduced by the federal government. It says that this case particularly entails “a sophisticated, intricate know-how ecosystem, which DOJ has acknowledged to this Courtroom is ‘extremely technical, typically summary, and out of doors the on a regular basis data of most potential jurors.’”
A Division of Justice spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark Thursday night.
Google, based mostly in Mountain View, California, makes two main arguments for putting the federal government’s demand for a jury trial. For starters, Google argues that the constitutional proper to a jury trial doesn’t apply to a civil go well with introduced by the federal government.
The fitting to a jury trial, based mostly within the Invoice of Rights, “protects residents in opposition to the federal authorities, not the opposite means round,” Google’s attorneys write of their courtroom submitting.
The corporate acknowledges within the courtroom papers, although, that the Justice Division has a stronger argument for demanding a jury in a case the place it seeks financial damages, versus merely looking for equitable aid, like forcing Google to unload components of its promoting know-how.
Within the Virginia case, the Division of Justice seeks financial damages on behalf of federal businesses, together with the Military, that it says had been harmed by Google’s monopolistic practices and overpaid for on-line advertisements that they bought.
In its courtroom submitting, Google contends that the injury declare was tacked on to the lawsuit on the final minute for the only goal of permitting them to hunt a jury.
The Division of Justice “manufactured a damages declare on the final minute in an try and safe a jury trial in a case even they describe as ‘extremely technical’ and ‘outdoors the on a regular basis data of most potential jurors,” the corporate stated in a written assertion Thursday.
Google’s submitting Thursday stated the corporate has minimize a test to the federal government that’s triple the quantity of the losses the federal government can declare. The precise quantity of the test is redacted, however in different courtroom papers, Google stated the utmost quantity of damages the federal government was in a position to reveal through the discovery course of was lower than $1 million.
As a result of the regulation permits antitrust damages to be trebled, the test quantity can be lower than $3 million.
Google says it nonetheless disputes that the damages are official, however says that paying the federal government’s claimed damages eliminates the necessity for a jury to determine the damages query.
Whereas Google says it’s unprecedented for a jury to determine a authorities antitrust go well with, Google has defended itself in entrance of a jury on antitrust instances introduced by personal corporations.
Final 12 months, a jury in San Francisco dominated in favor of Epic Video games, the maker of the favored Fortnite recreation, in a case the corporate introduced in opposition to Google over the Google Play retailer, which permits customers of Android telephones to obtain apps.
In that case, Google tried unsuccessfully on the final minute to modify the trial from a jury trial to a bench trial.