Google Wants Feds To Turn Over Docs In Antitrust Case Quickly

A lawyer for Google asked the federal government for a faster release of the documents it used to draft its antitrust case against the tech giant, Reuters reported.

With Google scrambling to file a response to the government’s case by Dec. 21, an attorney for the tech giant said it needs access to the material quickly in order to draft its defense, according to Reuters.

On Oct. 20, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against Google, arguing the tech company used “anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising,” the department noted in a press release.

“We need to get access to that material,” said Google attorney John Schmidtlein in a status conference held by phone, per Reuters. “We need to know more about the contours of that material.”

Responding to Google’s request, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seemed inclined to grant Google’s wish, or to at least part of it, Reuters reported. In particular, Mehta asked the DOJ, through one of its attorneys, whether the government’s legal team could provide Google with a list of companies that had provided information for the case.

In addition, Mehta also asked the government to disclose how much information each company gave, and to make copies for Google as requested, Reuters reported. All told, it would amount to a list of 100 witnesses.

“It seems like you’re going to have a pretty good window into the government’s case,” the judge said, according to Reuters.

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