By Brent Kendall
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 18, 2020).
WASHINGTON -- Some Justice Department staffers have expressed
internal concerns over plans to bring an antitrust lawsuit against
Alphabet Inc.'s Google -- and what they view as an aggressive
timeline favored by Attorney General William Barr, according to
people familiar with the matter.
The department has been moving toward bringing a lawsuit as soon
as this summer, but some lawyers involved in the yearlong
investigation have expressed a belief that the department doesn't
have a camera-ready case right now and needs more time to consider
whether the millions of pages of documents in the government's
possession yield the kind of evidence needed to win in court, the
people said.
Dozens of government antitrust lawyers are on teams
investigating whether the search giant has used its dominance to
stifle competition. One group is focused on Google's search
practices, and some of its members have voiced the belief that
there are vulnerabilities in a case built around those issues,
people familiar with the matter said. Details about the Justice
Department's legal theories couldn't be learned.
Another team is examining Google's online advertising business,
where the company owns industry-leading tools at every link in the
complex chain between online publishers and advertisers. Some
attorneys working on that aspect of the probe aren't ready to move
forward because they are still untangling the new and complex
issues raised by that part of Google's business and how it affects
the many companies in the digital ecosystem, the people said.
A senior Justice Department official said harm to innovation and
nascent competition in fast-moving technology markets can happen
quickly. The department has a duty to act expeditiously to
determine if antitrust violations have been committed and, if so,
to address them, the official said.
As the department's leader, Mr. Barr, aided by his top
lieutenants, will make the final decision on whether and when to
sue Google.
"Things are moving along to my satisfaction in terms of the
timing. I'm hoping to make a decision by the end of the summer,"
Mr. Barr said in an interview last week, when asked about
Google.
"While we continue to engage with ongoing investigations, our
focus is firmly on providing free services that help people every
day, lower costs for small businesses, and enable increased choice
and competition, " a Google spokeswoman said.
Because the advertising piece of the investigation is moving
more slowly, it is possible the department could file any antitrust
case in two parts, the first alleging Google is harming competition
by how it runs its search business, with advertising-related
allegations added later.
There are a range of views among staff about a Google case,
people familiar with the deliberations said. Some Justice
Department lawyers believe Google's conduct isn't blameless, but
they don't want to bring a once-in-a-generation lawsuit with flaws
and lose in court, the people said.
Some staffers also are concerned that top officials overseeing
the probe might be feeling pressure to get a lawsuit filed before
the election, the people said.
Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp is a longtime Google
critic and is among a group of publishers that have been contacted
by antitrust investigators.
The Justice Department for months has been preparing for a
likely lawsuit, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Google has been under the antitrust microscope for a decade. The
Federal Trade Commission, which shares antitrust authority with the
Justice Department, spent more than a year investigating Google but
decided in 2013 not to bring a case. Some FTC staffers in that case
raised several concerns about Google's conduct, but the commission
said the evidence on balance didn't warrant a case.
While the U.S. hasn't taken action, antitrust enforcers in the
European Union have brought three cases against Google, with fines
totaling more than $9 billion.
Epic Games Inc., creator of the videogame "Fortnite," last week
filed private antitrust lawsuits against Google and Apple Inc. over
their rules for selling mobile apps.
State attorneys general, both Republicans and Democrats, also
are investigating Google. And the company has been criticized by
both parties on Capitol Hill, including during a July 29 hearing in
which Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and other top tech CEOs
testified.
While lawmakers have been bipartisan in criticizing Google as
having too much power online, Republicans have a longer list of
grievances, some of which go beyond concerns about competition and
are focused instead on allegations the company is biased against
conservatives.
Mr. Barr has questioned whether dominant platforms like Google
are too powerful and have wielded their muscle to stifle the growth
of rivals. At times he has gone further, including in a Fox News
interview in June in which he suggested that dominant tech
companies were a threat to silence conservative voices.
"One way this can be addressed is through the antitrust laws and
challenging companies that engage in monopolistic practices," Mr.
Barr said.
Those remarks made even some Google critics uneasy.
The senior Justice Department official said the antitrust
investigation is premised on traditional principles and a
long-standing legal standard that focuses on consumer welfare.
Many additional concerns have been raised about the major tech
platforms, including alleged political censorship, online crime and
broad platform immunity under federal law, which the department is
exploring separately as part of its broader review of the tech
space, the official said.
Any case against Google will likely take years to resolve,
meaning the final direction of any legal challenge will be
controlled by the next presidential administration.
--Sadie Gurman contributed to this article.
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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