Google late Friday countered a US call to sell its Chrome browser, recommending a judge resolve antitrust concerns by preventing the corporation from making favorable treatment of its software a condition of licensing.
Google issued a 12-page proposed decision forbidding the internet company from forcing advantageous distribution or treatment of its software on mobile devices as a condition of licensing popular programs like Chrome, Play or Gemini.
On the other hand, in a significant antitrust attack on the corporation, the US government urged a judge in November to order the deconstruction of Google by selling its popular Chrome browser.
In order to prevent Google from abusing its Android mobile operating system and to stop deals that would make Google the default search engine on smartphones, the US Department of Justice called for a reorganization of Google’s operations.
The next phase of the historic antitrust case, in which US District Court Judge Amit Mehta declared Google a monopoly in August, will involve deciding how to remedy the company’s wrongs.
According to a court document, Google has asked Mehta to prevent it from leveraging the licensing appeal of its apps to pressure manufacturers of mobile devices to include its search software by default or pre-install it.
The proposed order states that “nothing in this Final Judgment shall otherwise prohibit Google from providing consideration to a mobile device manufacturer or wireless carrier with respect to any Google product or service when such entity distributes, places on any access point, promotes, or licenses that Google product or service.”
The US government’s authorities, who have mostly left computer titans alone since failing to break up Microsoft two decades ago, have made a significant shift by calling for the dissolution of Google.
Google is anticipated to appeal the decision, which may take years to resolve and could send the matter to the US Supreme Court, regardless of Judge Mehta’s ultimate decision.