Mozilla Concerned About Collateral Damage from Google Antitrust Case

In a recent blog post, Mozilla responded to the Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google. The DOJ lawsuit takes Mozilla and Google’s agreement as an example of the latter’s monopoly over the US search engine market.

It’s safe to say that Mozilla’s reaction is a direct result of this inclusion. When seen from its point of view, the position is justified as the company might be caught in a crossfire when the DOJ and Google lock horns.

Mozilla, Google, and the DOJ Antitrust Case

In its initial impressions statement, Mozilla started by saying: “We share concerns about how Big Tech’s growing power can deter innovation and reduce consumer choice. We believe that scrutiny of these issues is healthy, and critical if we’re going to build a better internet.”

It added that “small and independent companies such as Mozilla thrive by innovating, disrupting and providing users with industry-leading features and services in areas like search.”

The emboldened “and” in the statement drives the point home. The statement rightly points out the Mozilla Firefox browser‘s dependency on Google’s search engine.

Further, the organization added, “The ultimate outcomes of an antitrust lawsuit should not cause collateral damage to the very organizations – like Mozilla.” This reflects its concern for its own well being when the trial starts. One such concern is the possibility of losing Google search.

The DOJ lawsuit, Google’s response to the lawsuit, and now Mozilla’s reaction to the situation point to a common thread. Be it Mozilla or Apple or Android phone manufacturers, everyone is dependent on Google Search one way or the other.

When Mozilla talks about the healthy scrutiny of such dependency, the results don’t look pretty. If Google’s services have directly or indirectly created a monopoly, a solution needs to be found and implemented. However, breaking up Google’s services might not be a good idea as it’ll take away some of the best services that are available to consumers today.

The post Mozilla Concerned About Collateral Damage from Google Antitrust Case appeared first on Fossbytes.

Mozilla Concerned About Collateral Damage from Google Antitrust Case
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