The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated to a federal judge that it may recommend breaking up Google to address the harm caused by its dominance in the online search market. Such a move would mark a historic antitrust action against one of the world’s largest tech companies. Leah Nylen for Bloomberg News: ‎ The Justice Department “is considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features — including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence — over rivals or new entrants,” the agency said in the filing. The filing represents Washington’s first push to dismantle a company…

India’s antitrust regulator has issued a rare order to retract reports accusing Apple of anti-competitive practices. Apple claimed the reports leaked confidential information to competitors like Tinder-owner Match. This rectraction has stalled a long-running investigation into Apple’s dominance in the Indian app market and its in-app purchase policies. Aditya Kalra for Reuters: ‎ The move will prolong an already delayed investigation, which began in 2021, centering on Apple’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market to force developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system, at a fee of up to 30% Reuters reported last month that two reports prepared by India’s antitrust investigations unit in 2022 and 2024 and circulated to concerned parties in July found…

Apple could be the winner after Alphabet subsidiary Google lost its fight with the U.S. antitrust enforcers earlier this week, with a ruling that supports the Cupertino Colossus’ defense in its own antitrust court battle with U.S. prosecutors, legal experts told Reuters. Jody Godoy for Reuters: ‎ A federal judge mostly sided with state and federal antitrust enforcers in the blockbuster case on Monday that ruled Google’s search business was an illegal monopoly, but threw out a claim by several U.S. states that one of Google’s ad tools was designed to give the company an advantage over Microsoft’s Bing. That piece could help Apple’s defense in its own anti-monopoly case, experts said. The ruling underscored Supreme Court precedent that companies…

Alphabet subsidiary Google is “a monopolist, and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly” in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Monday, August 5th. Jonathan Guilford for Reuters: ‎ Google now shares an ignominy with Microsoft. Judged by the same legal yardstick, Alphabet’s web search colossus is a monopolist just as the software developer was deemed to be in 2001. It might also suffer a similar fate. Regardless of the remedies, which will be determined later, the victory is a significant one for Jonathan Kanter, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust chief, and his counterpart at the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan.…

For years, rumors have swirled about Apple's ambitions in the automotive space. While CarPlay has become a dominant infotainment system, questions linger: will Apple push deeper with car integrations, and could a self-driving Apple Car be on the horizon? (more…)

A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Google violated U.S. antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world’s default search engine, the first big win for federal authorities against the Alphabet subsidiary. David Shepardson and Mike Scarcella for Reuters: ‎ The ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine potential fixes, possibly including a breakup of Google parent Alphabet, which would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years. Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon. ‎ MacDailyNews Take: Duh. Even as we attempt to move away from the ad-supported model, we back whatever remedy or…