Google vs. America
Four antitrust lawsuits have been filed against Google by state attorneys general, charging it with attempting and conspiring to monopolize interstate commerce. If successful, the states concerned will receive threefold the damages caused to their residents by Google's alleged monopolistic behavior.
Such a drastic action, while very unusual for the present time, is not unprecedented in Internet history. The breakup of the Bell System either resulted in or caused the growth of phreaking, depending on your viewpoint. The lawsuit against Microsoft, while its outcome was anticlimactic, did spell the beginning of the end of the domination of Internet Explorer.
It is important to note that because both cases were settled, they are not precedents in the legal sense. Indeed it is arguable that the effect of any civil action, in setting precedent for future cases, is in inverse proportion to its social, economic, and political significance. Hence, as neither aspect of this case is precisely knowable at time of writing, this article needs to cover both.
