Google it… The Justice Department’s antitrust trial vs. Google ended last week (minus closing arguments), but the tech giant has to wait till next year to hear its verdict. The DoJ alleged that Google has a monopoly on the search biz. And at the end of the 12-week trial it got the cherry on top of its evidence sundae: an expert let slip that Apple gets 36% of Google’s revenue from search ads on Apple’s Safari browser, where Google’s the default engine. If Google loses, it may have to rework these kinds of agreements. The extreme potential penalty: breaking up its biz.
A level scrolling field… The FCC targeted “digital discrimination” with new rules last week. Regulators say it’s the first major US digital civil-rights policy, which aims to block telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast from providing unequal internet service to different communities. AT&T has been accused of laying modern fiber-optic cable in affluent areas while not updating old networks in low-income areas — but charging the same price. The rules are part of the Biden admin’s goal to connect all Americans to high-speed internet by 2030.