{"id":1584123,"date":"2022-08-02T08:19:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T12:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1584123"},"modified":"2022-08-02T08:19:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T12:19:59","slug":"judge-rejects-googles-attempt-to-dismiss-antitrust-lawsuit-case-proceeds-to-discovery-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rejects-googles-attempt-to-dismiss-antitrust-lawsuit-case-proceeds-to-discovery-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rejects Google&#8217;s Attempt to Dismiss Antitrust Lawsuit,  Case Proceeds to Discovery Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-rejects-googles-attempt-to-dismiss-antitrust-lawsuit-case-proceeds-to-discovery-stage%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1584123&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/social_media_share\/public\/2020-10\/google%20%282%29.jpg?h=96b0fac8&#038;itok=SKXaBkRb\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Google&#8217;s argument for dismissing an antitrust lawsuit by YouTube competitor Rumble \u2014 a haven for <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/accountability\/cancel-culture\/rumble-ceo-offers-joe-rogan-100-million-come-his-platform-wake\">unfettered discussions about COVID-19<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/accountability\/media\/movie-release-alternative-2000-mules-grossed-over-1-million-rumble-first-12\">election fraud<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/accountability\/media\/donald-trumps-truth-social-propels-conservatives-reach-past-twitter-few-short\">Ukraine-Russia relations<\/a> \u2014 so perplexed a federal judge that he took only eight pages to reject Google&#8217;s motion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Without real dispute,&#8221; Rumble has adequately alleged that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1Jdm8AvAKYRlD9Xru4RVttBBZfSi56LCG\/view\">U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam wrote<\/a> Friday, questioning Google&#8217;s &#8220;somewhat counterintuitive premise that [Rumble] has pled too much.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the third censorship-related lawsuit against Big Tech pillars to win approval for legal discovery in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/states\/center-square\/judge-orders-discovery-phase-social-media-collusion-lawsuit-against?utm_source=sf&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_campaign=twjtn\">a federal judge ordered that social media companies Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and YouTube must turn over documents and answer questions in a suit alleging collusion<\/a> between the companies and the Biden administration to censor &#8220;disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content&#8221; on their platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Twitter let former New York Times journalist Alex Berenson back on the platform last month to settle his <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/free-speech\/twitter-launches-new-purge-covid-contrarians-while-reckoning-musk-free-speech\">advancing breach-of-contract suit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>YouTube has particularly targeted videos that challenge COVID orthodoxy, removing <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/government\/local\/youtube-promises-pullback-covid-censorship-after-mass-deplatforming-public\">public meetings where COVID policy is debated<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/government\/congress\/youtube-censors-rand-paul-who-says-company-has-become-arm-government\">science-based criticisms of COVID mitigations<\/a> by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and a <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/technology\/youtube-censors-interview-virginia-mom-who-held-school-board-accountable-mask\">parent&#8217;s criticisms of school COVID policy<\/a>. It also labeled an <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/culture\/new-anti-biden-lets-go-brandon-song-censored-social-media-hits-1-itunes\">anti-Biden rap song as &#8220;medical misinformation.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rumble can now obtain internal Google documents on &#8220;algorithmic manipulation of its search engine&#8221; and requirements that &#8220;all but force&#8221; companies reliant on its infrastructure to use YouTube, lawyer <a href=\"https:\/\/greenwald.substack.com\/p\/court-rejects-googles-attempt-to?r=hi01k&#038;s=r&#038;utm_campaign=post&#038;utm_medium=web\">Glenn Greenwald<\/a>, a progressive critic of censorship and prominent Rumble user, wrote in his newsletter Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Anti-censorship group <a href=\"https:\/\/reclaimthenet.org\/rumble-antitrust-lawsuit-google-discovery\/\">Reclaim the Net<\/a> pointed to two-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/google-steers-users-to-youtube-over-rivals-11594745232?mod=article_inline\">Wall Street Journal tests<\/a> that found Google overwhelmingly gave YouTube the first spot in its coveted &#8220;carousel&#8221; of video search results, as well as the lion&#8217;s share of the remaining slots, compared to competitors with similar videos.<\/p>\n<p>The Rumble victory may also help President Trump&#8217;s five-month-old Truth Social platform, which <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/free-speech\/truth-social-migrates-rumble-cloud-ready-onboard-millions\">migrated to the Rumble cloud<\/a> this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump Media and Technology Group Director of Communications Mattheus Wagner declined to comment on how Gilliam&#8217;s order may affect its business or provide Truth Social metrics, citing its <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/politics-policy\/all-things-trump\/firm-merging-trumps-truth-social-faces-grand-jury-subpoenas\">pending merger<\/a>, except to note that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/07\/09\/donald-trump-elon-musk-pulling-out-twitter-deal-called-early\/\">Trump estimated its user base was around 5 million<\/a> a month ago.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/technology\/trump-says-he-wont-go-back-twitter-truth-social-outperforms-musk-acquired-app\">Truth Social quickly shot to the top<\/a> of Apple&#8217;s free apps, followed by Twitter, when it left an extended beta period in April. The expansion coincided with billionaire Elon Musk&#8217;s pledged $44 million Twitter purchase, whose later collapse was followed by a <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/nation\/free-speech\/twitter-resumes-purge-scientists-critics-gender-ideology-after-musk-pullout\">raft of suspensions and lockouts against medical experts and critics of gender ideology<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Google argued the lawsuit must be &#8220;broken into distinct theories&#8221; of liability based on Rumble&#8217;s allegations \u2014 &#8220;self-preferencing&#8221; YouTube in search results, &#8220;tying&#8221; its video service to other Google apps, and &#8220;unlawfully dominating the search market with agreements involving distribution&#8221; of Google search \u2014 and the latter two then dismissed.<\/p>\n<p>But the search behemoth could only find two nonprecedential trial court opinions to support this argument, the Obama nominee said, and it doesn&#8217;t dispute the viability of the self-preferencing claim: obtaining and maintaining an online video monopoly and algorithmically directing users to YouTube &#8220;with no valid business purpose or benefit&#8221; to them.<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<p>This &#8220;parsing&#8221; argument is also &#8220;at least arguably in tension&#8221; with 60-year-old Supreme Court precedent giving antitrust plaintiffs &#8220;the full benefit of their proof without compartmentalizing the various factual components and wiping the slate clean after scrutiny of each,&#8221; Gilliam wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Google also sought the removal of allegations that it achieved and maintained an unlawful video monopoly by conditioning device makers&#8217; access to the Android mobile operating system and its other popular services on &#8220;preinstallation of the YouTube app&#8221; and sometimes requiring bans on rival preinstallations. These are known as &#8220;anti-forking&#8221; agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Motions to strike &#8220;are often used as delaying tactics&#8221; and Google hasn&#8217;t shown the allegations are &#8220;redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous,&#8221; Gilliam said. The developing factual record could show that &#8220;all of the interrelated conduct&#8221; is relevant to Rumble&#8217;s self-preferencing claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t clear from oral argument last fall which way Gilliam was leaning. The Sept. 29 hearing transcript shows he was skeptical of Rumble&#8217;s effort &#8220;to loop in things that are happening in the general search market,&#8221; where it doesn&#8217;t compete, under the long-disputed &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/repository.law.miami.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&#038;context=umblr\">monopoly leveraging doctrine<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In recent cases, &#8220;the courts have all but said&#8221; the doctrine is &#8220;not a standalone theory without some allegation of independent anti-competitive conduct in the leveraged market,&#8221; the judge said, asking Google if its motion to dismiss relied on declaring the doctrine &#8220;inviable under any circumstances.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Google is arguing that Rumble hasn&#8217;t even alleged &#8220;independent exclusionary conduct directed at that second leveraged market&#8221; that would fit the leveraging doctrine, Google lawyer John Schmidtlein responded.<\/p>\n<p>Because Rumble is &#8220;not a participant in this search market,&#8221; it also lacks &#8220;antitrust standing to complain about conduct that purportedly would give Google a monopoly in any sort of search market,&#8221; Schmidtlein said.<\/p>\n<article class=\"align-center\">\n<\/article>\n<p>Rumble lawyer Jack Stern countered that Google was mischaracterizing its argument. The contractual restrictions and bundling requirements for Android device makers give YouTube dominance in mobile search, &#8220;a very important means by which consumers engage in both general searches and specialized searches&#8221; such as for videos.<\/p>\n<p>Gilliam objected to Rumble&#8217;s implication that he couldn&#8217;t scrutinize whether it met the pleading requirements for its tying allegations. Stern pointed the judge to its allegations about &#8220;the coercive, no-choice operation of the mobile application distribution agreements&#8221; between Google and Android device makers.<\/p>\n<p>Rumble meets the &#8220;coercion threshold&#8221; because the device makers &#8220;don&#8217;t have an economically viable choice&#8221; except to take YouTube as a condition of receiving &#8220;must-have&#8221; and &#8220;gotta-have&#8221; apps, Stern said.<\/p>\n<p>Schmidtlein disputed that Rumble had shown that even &#8220;a single device manufacturer, mobile phone carrier, anybody who manufactures or sells a device that comes pre-installed with YouTube&#8221; had been coerced into taking it or &#8220;would have preferred not to do that,&#8221; absent Google&#8217;s licensing terms.<\/p>\n<p>Not only do device makers pay nothing for the &#8220;bundle of apps&#8221; that includes YouTube, but the Google license doesn&#8217;t stop anyone from preinstalling Rumble, he argued. &#8220;That is different than the typical tying case&#8221; where a party uses its monopoly for one product to require a partner to &#8220;pay an affirmative price&#8221; for another product.<\/p>\n<p>Schmidtlein questioned why Rumble seems to think Android devices are the only game in town, when it could approach Apple or laptop makers for preinstallation deals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google&#8217;s argument for dismissing an antitrust lawsuit by YouTube competitor Rumble \u2014 a haven for unfettered discussions about COVID-19, election fraud and Ukraine-Russia relations \u2014 so perplexed a federal judge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1584372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1584123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1584123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1584123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1584123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1584123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1584123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1584123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}