excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
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Yes! This is very good news and has a very good chance of ultimately winning.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has asked the court to legally declare that Google is a “public utility” in a lawsuit filed against the Big Tech giant.
According to Yost, Google should be viewed in the same way as electricity, water, and gas providers, arguing that Google “hurts its rivals by prioritizing its own products and services in search results, displaying them above those of competitors,” according to CNET.
“Justice Thomas recently stated, ‘there is a fair argument that some digital platforms are sufficiently akin to common carriers or places of accommodation to be regulated,’” the complaint points out. “Justice Thomas went on to explain, ‘the analogy to common carriers is even clearer for digital platforms that have dominant market share. … Google search — at 90% 5 of the market share — is valuable relative to other search engines because more people use it, creating data that Google’s algorithm uses to refine and improve search results.’”
“This suit does not argue that Google’s dominance of internet search is good or bad when viewed in isolation. Those issues are left to be resolved elsewhere,” the complaint reads. “Accepting this fact, the first claim is narrowly focused on establishing that Google’s provision of internet search is properly classified as a common carrier and/or public utility under Ohio common law.”
In recent months, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been vocal on the subject of Big Tech. In early April, Thomas argued that Congress could strip social media giants such as Google of First Amendment protections, comparing them to “public accommodations.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has asked the court to legally declare that Google is a “public utility” in a lawsuit filed against the Big Tech giant.
According to Yost, Google should be viewed in the same way as electricity, water, and gas providers, arguing that Google “hurts its rivals by prioritizing its own products and services in search results, displaying them above those of competitors,” according to CNET.
“Justice Thomas recently stated, ‘there is a fair argument that some digital platforms are sufficiently akin to common carriers or places of accommodation to be regulated,’” the complaint points out. “Justice Thomas went on to explain, ‘the analogy to common carriers is even clearer for digital platforms that have dominant market share. … Google search — at 90% 5 of the market share — is valuable relative to other search engines because more people use it, creating data that Google’s algorithm uses to refine and improve search results.’”
“This suit does not argue that Google’s dominance of internet search is good or bad when viewed in isolation. Those issues are left to be resolved elsewhere,” the complaint reads. “Accepting this fact, the first claim is narrowly focused on establishing that Google’s provision of internet search is properly classified as a common carrier and/or public utility under Ohio common law.”
In recent months, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been vocal on the subject of Big Tech. In early April, Thomas argued that Congress could strip social media giants such as Google of First Amendment protections, comparing them to “public accommodations.”
