CHARLESTON, W.Va (WDTV) - A bipartisan coalition of 38 attorneys general has recently been joined by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. This coalition aims to sue Google LLC for anticompetitive conduct, claiming that Google illegally maintains a monopoly power over both internet search engines as well as advertisement markets. They believe that this monopoly prevents competition in the industry via contracts and conducts that exclude other companies. Morrisey stated that “big tech must be held accountable to ensure meaningful access to competition.” He adds that “corporations have a right to thrive, but they must not do so at the expense of severely and unlawfully limiting consumer choice. Increased competition provides improved privacy protections, more targeted results and greater opportunities.”
The coalition maintains that the monopoly created by Google prevented customers from accessing the competing companies, which may offer different perspectives and privacy options. Additionally, the coalition states that Google utilizes its position to obtain and even exploit data in a way that is harmful to its consumers. In October, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a similar lawsuit, but this particular lawsuit contains a more extensive description of Google’s maintenance of their monopoly as well as additional allegations.
In addition to preventing future monopolization and misconduct, this lawsuit also aims to unwind the advantages that Google may have gained a due to the alleged misconduct. With Morrisey’s actions, West Virginia has joined with many other attorneys general in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, as well as Guam and Puerto Rico (U.S. territories).
Both the lawsuit and the motion to consolidate this lawsuit with the federal case were filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This lawsuit can be accessed and read at https://bit.ly/3p4UZpE.
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December 18, 2020 at 07:00AM
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Attorney General Morrisey sues Google - WDTV
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