(Bloomberg) – Alphabet Inc’s Google. has called a US Justice Department plan to force it to sell its Chrome browser "extreme" and against the law, asking a federal judge to be more careful not to stifle innovation and future investment.
In a filing late Friday, Google responded to the Justice Department's request and proposed its own measures. The company said the proposed sale of Chrome was inconsistent with the company's conduct that the judge found illegal — which involved exclusive contracts with browsers, smartphone makers and telecommunications companies.
"Remedies for anticompetitive conduct should be of the same type as for allegations of infringement," Google said.
The Justice Department last month asked Judge Amit Mehta to order Google to sell its Chrome browser along with a series of other business changes to improve competition in the online market. searchs.
Google said any solution would have to allow competing browsers like its Safari Apple Inc. “να έχουν την ελευθερία να κάνουν συμφωνίες με όποια μηχανή search they think it's better for them users them," wrote Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company's vice president of regulatory affairs in a Keyword post. Mehta found that it was illegal for Google to pay Apple and others to be the default browser search provider.
Mulholland said Google's proposal would still allow the company to earn revenue from other competing browsers, but would also allow for multiple defaults on different platforms. It will allow device makers to preload multiple search engines and not require them to include Chrome and Google search to have other Google apps.
Google's filing on Friday is its first formal response since Mehta was found to be illegally monopolizing the online search and advertising markets. The company said it plans to appeal, but cannot do so until after the case is over.
The judge has scheduled a meeting in April to decide how to fix the lack of competition in industries dominated by Google and has promised to make his final decision by August 2025.
