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posted by janrinok on Tuesday September 10 2019, @03:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the grabs-popcorn dept.

Get ready to be probed by the Antitrust Voltron, Google: Attorneys general combine from Texas, New York, Maine, Arizona, Missouri...

From IRC we get the following story:

The attorneys general of 50 US states and territories are teaming up to probe Google for possible antitrust violations, Ken Paxton, the AG for Texas, announced on Monday.

The bipartisan push involves 48 states, with only Alabama and California – the latter being the home of Google and Silicon Valley – declining to take part. Washington DC, and Puerto Rico, a US protectorate, have stepped up, though, bringing the total number of prosecutors to 50.

California Assemblyman member Jordan Cunnigham (R-San Luis Obispo) expressed disappointment that California's State Attorney Xavier Becerra isn't part of the monopoly probe. "Attorney General Becerra's refusal to join the bipartisan investigation into the tech giants is embarrassing. California deserves to be at the table," he said.

Paxton will be leading the probe, described as "a multistate investigation into whether large tech companies" – cough, cough, Google – "have engaged in anticompetitive behavior that stifled competition, restricted access, and harmed consumers."

"Now, more than ever, information is power, and the most important source of information in Americans' day-to-day lives is the internet. When most Americans think of the internet, they no doubt think of Google," said Attorney General Paxton.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by ilsa on Tuesday September 10 2019, @05:24PM (1 child)

    by ilsa (6082) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 10 2019, @05:24PM (#892275)

    Considering the results of the last few anti-trust probes they've done, and the completely and total ineffectiveness thereof, I have difficulty believing that this is just a bunch of posturing designed to make them look like they're doing something useful and justifying their jobs.

    I have no expectations that anything useful will come out of this apart from some meaningless "oversight" reports, at best.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday September 10 2019, @08:08PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 10 2019, @08:08PM (#892340) Journal

    The Microsoft antitrust circus didn't go too badly. Only two things seemed to go wrong at the very end:
    1. The judge foolishly spoke to the press before formally announcing the verdict.
    2. A Republican administration being elected. After the government fully proving their case: Ashcroft dismissing it because it was "without merit". Much like the Regan dismissing the IBM antitrust for being "without merit". But see the book: "Big Blue: IBM's Use and Abuse of Power". But then, the 1980's weren't kind to IBM.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.