Google disagrees with US over law-suit-related protection order
Alphabet Inc’s Google and the US Department of Justice failed to reach agreement on a protection order for third parties like Microsoft who provided data to the government for its lawsuit against the search giant and advertising.
Google is pushing for two inside lawyers to have access to confidential data, while the Justice Department and attorneys general involved in the trial disagree, Google said in a court filing on Friday.
Google said it needed this information to prepare an effective defense. He offered to ensure that any confidential information would be made available only to two inside attorneys at Google’s external counsel offices or in some other secure manner, adding that he would promptly report any disclosure.
The government said in a separate filing that allowing lawyers for Google’s staff to review “strategic plans related to rival voice assistants and other commercially sensitive information” was dangerous because they could abuse the information to crush potential competition. .
The government also said the highly confidential files of the last big tech antitrust case, which involved Microsoft Corp some 20 years ago, were only accessible to the firm’s external board.
Companies whose documents are in dispute in the Google case also include Oracle Corp, AT&T Inc, Amazon.com, Comcast Corp and others. They have until next Friday to make their proposals on the terms of a protection order.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta for the District of Columbia hears the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google. The government sued Google in October, accusing the $ 1 trillion company of illegally using its market power to hamper rivals in the biggest challenge of big tech power and influence in decades.
