The judge presiding over the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Google has ruled that the Justice Department can publish trial documents online despite Alphabet's objections. The ruling is not without exception, however, and the parties have until the next business day to resolve objections to sensitive material.
The fight began more than a week ago when the Justice Department posted on its website dozens of emails and other Google documents used in the trial. Google filed for an injunction, claiming the documents revealed trade secrets and encouraged "clickbait" headlines. Bloomberg noted that the Justice Department deleted the documents last week while the two sides argued in front of a judge before reaching an agreement.
According to the ruling, the Justice Department can release trial evidence "as soon as reasonably possible." However, Google and any other parties named in the filing may raise objections until 9 p.m. each day following the hearing. The parties have until the start of the next day to resolve those disputes through redactions or other means, at which time the Justice Department is free to release full or redacted exhibits.
According to National Public Radio (NPR), the case is the first antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice to enter trial in decades. The lawsuit contends that Google has created a monopoly that illegally puts it at the center of everyone's attention every time they search on their phone or browser. One of the Justice Department's most prominent arguments revolves around a deal between Alphabet and Apple to make Google the default search engine on iPhones and other devices.
Today, Eddy Cue, Apple's former vice president of advanced services, testified that the two companies reached a revenue-sharing agreement in 2002. According to the contract, Apple will receive a portion of Google's advertising revenue if it makes Google's search engine the default search engine on Apple devices and Safari.
In 2016, Apple renegotiated the contract to get a bigger slice of the pie from searches conducted on Apple hardware. Google CEO Sundar Pichai (Sundar Pichai) was reluctant and wanted to keep the agreement unchanged. Ultimately, the two tech giants reached an ongoing agreement for an undisclosed sum. The Justice Department estimates the annual price tag to be about $19 billion.
Cue also said there is a clause in the contract that requires both companies to support and defend the deal if it comes under regulatory scrutiny. Cue said Apple had no choice but to make a deal with Google because there was no "effective alternative" to a search engine that customers were unfamiliar with or didn't trust.