Ronan Dunne: Legal tide turns against Big Tech, on both sides of the Atlantic  

Former Attorney General William Barr who announced in October that the US Department of Justice would bring a major lawsuit against Google for alleged violations of US competition law. File photo: AP

As a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, former attorney general Bill Barr will be remembered for a lot of things but perhaps his legacy will have wide ramifications for citizens across the globe, far beyond the Washington political bubble.

Under Mr Barr’s watch, the US Department of Justice, or DoJ, initiated a major lawsuit against Google for alleged violations of US competition law. Announcing the move in October, Mr Barr said it was “a monumental case" that alleges Google has unlawfully maintained monopolies through anticompetitive practices in the search and search advertising markets.

The significance of the DoJ’s action cannot be underestimated. Google is one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet with a market value of over $1 trillion and in Mr Barr's own words it now faces a lawsuit that "strikes at the heart of Google’s grip over the internet". 

Significantly, he referenced US actions taken in previous decades against AT&T and Microsoft. And while Microsoft was able to cut a deal that left its business intact, the same cannot be said for AT&T. Does a similar fate await Google? 

While the DoJ has said that “nothing is off the table”, the litigation is likely to drag on for years and a settlement may, ultimately, suit all parties that would leave Google intact, though divestments of specific business functions cannot be ruled out. 

The action does, however, mark a turning of the tide against the US tech titans, which president-elect Joe Biden will likely encourage. 

In early December, the US Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, and over 40 states, took action against Facebook, accusing the social media giant of buying up rivals to suppress competition. 

DoJ and FTC investigations into Amazon and Apple are also ongoing, reflecting the growing bipartisan support in the US for action against Big Tech.

Here in Europe, competition action against Google has become a regular feature of Margrethe Vestager’s tenure as European Commissioner for Competition. 

In the last three years, fines of over €8bn have been levied on Google by the EU, including a record amount of €4.3bn two years ago, over ways Google was using the Android operating system to illegally “cement its dominant position in general internet search”. 

Ms Vestager had earlier presided over further decisions against Google, the famous state-aid case against Apple involving Ireland, a case against Amazon, as well as a case involving Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp.

Ronan Dunne believes a lawsuit by the US Department of Justice against Google marks a turning of the tide against US tech titans.

Commissioner Vestager had to defend herself against accusations of bias from President Trump, who had reportedly told her boss, the Commission president, that “your tax lady really hates the US”. 

Ms Vestager, however, has further cemented her power, and the EU is working on two packages of legislation – the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act – which will profoundly influence how the internet is regulated in Europe, for which read the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.

Importantly, the legislation has teeth, including fines of up to 10% of worldwide turnover and, in certain circumstances, would insist on the break up of operations. 

Just what the proposed EU rules mean for Ireland is difficult to say and issues such as proposed changes to taxation for the digital sector are likely a more pressing concern.

What is clear, however,  is that the regulatory authorities want to ensure that they do not allow the dominance by a handful of companies. 

• Ronan Dunne is partner at law firm Philip Lee