Comment by echopom
5 years ago
Google has already been condemned by UE for this type of issue for 150M. That's literally nothing , at least not enough to hit their wallet.
This type of battle take months if not years in court and cost millions of dollars.
Google products can be shipped and removed in a few weeks , far beyond the reach of operation of the current judiciary system.
Today the problem is GHS , tomorrow it'll be "GSuite Safe Account" or "Youtube Safe Video" etc...
There is no point in taking Google to court just for a "one time" condemnation, it's a systematic issue that is tied to Google itself.
EU is working on addressing these issues. They specifically want to label companies like Google as "gatekeepers" in The Digital Markets Act.
From: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/gatekeepers-face-...
> In case of violations, the new law would provide for fines of up to 10% of a gatekeeper's total global turnover. Lasseur said: "The fines are high, but they correspond to the usual sanction regime for violations of European competition law."
> In the event of a repeated offence, following a detailed market investigation by the Commission, the company could even be broken if the Commission finds that there is no effective alternative to ensure that the gatekeeper obligations are complied with.
The fines will no longer be just a cost of doing business, but an existential threat. It may take 10 or 15 years in courts but EU will break down likes of Google for repeated offenses even if the relevant products will no longer exist.