Meet Indian-American judge Amit Mehta, who ruled that Google has an ‘illegal monopoly’ – Firstpost

A U.S. judge ruled Monday that ubiquitous search engine Google illegally uses its dominant position to suppress competition and stifle innovation.

The much-anticipated, groundbreaking decision that could shake up the internet was issued by Indian-American U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta.

It comes nearly a year after the U.S. Justice Department went to trial against Google, the largest antitrust conflict in the country’s history in a quarter-century.

Mehta’s ruling was clear.

“Google is a monopoly and acts like a monopoly to maintain its monopoly.”

Here’s everything we know about him.

Who is District Court Judge Amit Mehta?

Amit Mehta was born in Patan, Gujarat in 1971, and at the age of one, he moved to the United States with his parents. Jagran Josh.

Raised in Maryland, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997.

Mehta began his legal career in the San Francisco office of Latham and Watkins LLP that same year.

According to NDTVHe also served as a clerk to Judge Susan P. Graber on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In 1999, Mehta joined the law firm of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP in Washington, D.C., and then worked as a staff attorney in the District of Columbia Public Defender Service from 2002 to 2007.

In 2007, he returned to Zuckerman Spaeder, where he focused on white-collar criminal defense, complex commercial litigation, and appellate counsel.

During that time, Mehta also served on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project and was co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section of the District Bar of Columbia, according to Times of India.

He was also active in other legal groups, serving as director of the nonprofit Facilitating Leadership in Youth, which provided extracurricular activities and mentoring for youth at risk of social exclusion.

On December 2, 2014, he was appointed a federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. He was appointed by former U.S. President Barack Obama and is the first Asian Pacific American to take the oath of office in the District Court, according to Hindustan Times.

Mehta has represented high-profile clients including former U.S. congressman Tom Feeney and former IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn, helping him fight assault charges in a New York court.

As a judge, Mehta issued important rulings, including in cases related to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

He denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss civil lawsuits that held him responsible for inciting the riot. Mehta wrote in his ruling: “Denying the President immunity from civil damages is no small step. The court fully understands the gravity of its decision. However, the alleged facts in this case are unprecedented, and the court believes that its decision is consistent with the purposes of such immunity.”

What did he say in his last verdict?

Amit Mehta ruled on Monday (August 5) that Google violated antitrust law after a lengthy trial involving the tech giant.

“After carefully considering and weighing the witness statements and evidence, the court concludes that Google is a monopolist and is acting like a monopolist to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his 277-page ruling. He said Google’s dominance in the search market is evidence of its monopoly.

“Google has an 89.2 percent market share in general search services, and on mobile devices that share increases to 94.9 percent,” the ruling reads.

According to Press AssociationMehta’s ruling focused on the billions of dollars Google spends each year to install its search engine as a default option on new mobile phones and tech gadgets. In 2021 alone, Google spent more than $26 billion to enter into these default agreements, Mehta said in his ruling.

It is a major step back for Google and parent company Alphabet Inc., which has steadfastly maintained that its popularity is due to user choices and not anti-competitive practices.

According to estimates, Google processes around 8.5 billion search queries per day worldwide, which is almost twice the daily number of search queries compared to 12 years ago. recent research issued by the investment company BOND.

In response to the unfavorable decision, Google intends to file an appeal.

Kent Walker, Google’s global president, said the company intends to appeal Mehta’s findings.

“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but says we shouldn’t be able to easily share it,” Walker said.

The company continues to believe that its success is the result of providing users with the highest quality services.

With information from the agency