The judge overseeing Google’s landmark antitrust case unsealed closed-door testimony from two key witnesses, potentially marking his latest move to deal with criticism that the once-in-a-generation trial has been too secretive.
After facing backlash from frustrated antitrust advocates over a scarcity of public access, Judge Amit Mehta ordered the discharge of huge chunks of remarks made by DuckDuckGO CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple AI boss John Giannandrea on the stand.
Mehta said he reviewed the transcripts “line-by-line,” alongside redaction requests from the businesses involved, before deciding what to release.
Partial transcripts from other notable witnesses, including Apple services chief Eddy Cue, will even be released, the judge revealed.
The judge’s decision to release more sealed testimony is a “solid start,” in response to Joel Thayer, an attorney for 2 nonprofits that staged an unsuccessful bid in DC federal court to make all exhibits about Google’s relationship with Apple publicly available.
“My hope is that the parties don’t have the chance to make further redactions,” Thayer told The Post.
“Briefly, I believe that is fairly aware of our motion, but whether we get more transparency is determined by how much deference Judge Mehta gives the parties difficult the DoJ’s public posting,” he added.
The court has not held a single closed-door session this week – a serious reversal from the trial’s early days, when key witnesses ceaselessly disappeared from public view to debate sensitive information, in response to the Big Tech on Trial newsletter.
Justice Department attorneys have argued that Google pays greater than $10 billion per yr to smartphone makers and mobile carriers to maintain its search engine because the default option on most devices.
The feds say the strategy has illegally suppressed competition and allowed Google to keep up a dominant 90% market share.
Google asserts the payments are fair compensation to its partners and that customers select to make use of its search engine since it is the most effective product of its kind in the marketplace.
Google’s lawyers have fought hard to maintain certain documents and testimony under wraps through the trial because they allegedly contained sensitive details about internal operations or trade secrets.
In a single case, Google tried to dam the discharge of a 2017 document wherein Michael Roszak, the corporate’s vice chairman for finance, wrote that “search promoting is certainly one of the world’s best business models ever created,” adding that only “illicit businesses (cigarettes or drugs) that would rival these economics.”
The Post has reached out to Google, Apple and DuckDuckGo for comment.
The unsealed testimony from DuckDuckGo’s Weinberg and Apple’s Giannanadrea contained revelations that may have otherwise evaded public scrutiny.
For instance, Weinberg testified that his team held extensive meetings and phone calls with top Apple executives in 2018 and 2019 about making DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused search engine the default setting for the private mode of Apple’s Safari browser, Bloomberg reported.
“We were talking about it, I assumed they’d launch it,” Weinberg said.
Giannandrea, who formerly served as Apple’s head of search, wrote in February 2019 that he felt it was “probably a nasty idea” for the corporate to make use of DuckDuckGo because the default search engine on Safari’s private browsing function.
Ultimately, Apple decided to retain Google as its default search engine partner.
Last week, Mehta ruled that the DOJ could publish trial exhibits on a publicly available website.
Nonetheless, Google and Apple are allowed to contest which items are revealed and which remain under seal.
Mehta will ultimately resolve the end result of the case.
The judge overseeing Google’s landmark antitrust case unsealed closed-door testimony from two key witnesses, potentially marking his latest move to deal with criticism that the once-in-a-generation trial has been too secretive.
After facing backlash from frustrated antitrust advocates over a scarcity of public access, Judge Amit Mehta ordered the discharge of huge chunks of remarks made by DuckDuckGO CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple AI boss John Giannandrea on the stand.
Mehta said he reviewed the transcripts “line-by-line,” alongside redaction requests from the businesses involved, before deciding what to release.
Partial transcripts from other notable witnesses, including Apple services chief Eddy Cue, will even be released, the judge revealed.
The judge’s decision to release more sealed testimony is a “solid start,” in response to Joel Thayer, an attorney for 2 nonprofits that staged an unsuccessful bid in DC federal court to make all exhibits about Google’s relationship with Apple publicly available.
“My hope is that the parties don’t have the chance to make further redactions,” Thayer told The Post.
“Briefly, I believe that is fairly aware of our motion, but whether we get more transparency is determined by how much deference Judge Mehta gives the parties difficult the DoJ’s public posting,” he added.
The court has not held a single closed-door session this week – a serious reversal from the trial’s early days, when key witnesses ceaselessly disappeared from public view to debate sensitive information, in response to the Big Tech on Trial newsletter.
Justice Department attorneys have argued that Google pays greater than $10 billion per yr to smartphone makers and mobile carriers to maintain its search engine because the default option on most devices.
The feds say the strategy has illegally suppressed competition and allowed Google to keep up a dominant 90% market share.
Google asserts the payments are fair compensation to its partners and that customers select to make use of its search engine since it is the most effective product of its kind in the marketplace.
Google’s lawyers have fought hard to maintain certain documents and testimony under wraps through the trial because they allegedly contained sensitive details about internal operations or trade secrets.
In a single case, Google tried to dam the discharge of a 2017 document wherein Michael Roszak, the corporate’s vice chairman for finance, wrote that “search promoting is certainly one of the world’s best business models ever created,” adding that only “illicit businesses (cigarettes or drugs) that would rival these economics.”
The Post has reached out to Google, Apple and DuckDuckGo for comment.
The unsealed testimony from DuckDuckGo’s Weinberg and Apple’s Giannanadrea contained revelations that may have otherwise evaded public scrutiny.
For instance, Weinberg testified that his team held extensive meetings and phone calls with top Apple executives in 2018 and 2019 about making DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused search engine the default setting for the private mode of Apple’s Safari browser, Bloomberg reported.
“We were talking about it, I assumed they’d launch it,” Weinberg said.
Giannandrea, who formerly served as Apple’s head of search, wrote in February 2019 that he felt it was “probably a nasty idea” for the corporate to make use of DuckDuckGo because the default search engine on Safari’s private browsing function.
Ultimately, Apple decided to retain Google as its default search engine partner.
Last week, Mehta ruled that the DOJ could publish trial exhibits on a publicly available website.
Nonetheless, Google and Apple are allowed to contest which items are revealed and which remain under seal.
Mehta will ultimately resolve the end result of the case.
