- The Obama appointee has rendered important decisions in matters pertaining to the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, rejecting the attempt of former President Donald Trump to have civil lawsuits accusing him of inciting the riots dismissed.
- U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta is in the public eye because he is associated with important cases. Yesterday, the Indian American made headlines with his landmark decision that Google had broken antitrust laws by unlawfully abusing its monopoly in the search industry. In his 277-page decision, he stated that the tech giant “used exclusive agreements to make itself the ‘default’ search engine and ad provider on devices, giving it a major advantage over its rival.” In announcing his choice, he declared, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
- The decision is based on a 2020 lawsuit that the Department of Justice and multiple states filed against Google, U.S. et al. v. Google, which culminated in a 10-week trial last year. According to The New York Times, the lawsuit charged the business with “illegally cementing its dominance, in part, by paying other companies, like Apple and Samsung, billions of dollars a year to have Google automatically handle search queries on their smartphones and web browsers.”
- Mehta, who was born in Gujarat, has rendered important decisions in cases involving the Capitol riots on January 6. He denied former The attempt by President Donald Trump to get out of civil lawsuits that blame him for starting the riot. He examined Trump’s 75-minute speech at the Ellipse on January 6 and described how the former president might have been incited the attack that ensued in a 112-page opinion released on February 18. He claimed that because Trump’s actions and statements insinuating that a “stolen” election were motivated solely by his desire to hold onto office, they could not be justified on the grounds of separation of powers.
- “A harsh verdict on the rise of giant technology companies that have used their roots in the internet to influence the way we shop, consume information, and search online,” according to the New York Times, is what Mehta’s ruling represents. It is also expected to impact future government antitrust lawsuits against Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and “indicates a potential limit of Big Tech’s power.” More than 20 years ago, Microsoft was the target of the most notable antitrust ruling against a tech company.
- In the larger search advertising market, the ruling did not identify a monopoly.
- The Verge reported that “since this initial finding is only about the company’s liability, not about remedies,” it is “not yet clear what this ruling will mean for the future of Google’s business.” The next stage of the legal process will decide Google’s fate, which could mean anything from a directive to cease specific business practices to the dissolution of Google’s search division.
- Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, was one of the witnesses at last year’s trial. He testified that he was concerned that his A “Google web” was established by rivals’ dominance, and Apple and its relationship was “oligopolistic.” He predicted that Google would emerge as the front-runner in the race to develop artificial intelligence if it persisted unabated. Google CEO Sundar Pichai disagreed, arguing that Google has improved customer services. Google plans to appeal the decision.
- President of Global Affairs Kent Walker of Google said in a statement that the company intends to appeal the decision. “This ruling acknowledges that Google provides the finest search engine, but it comes to the conclusion that we should not be permitted to make it widely accessible,” he stated. “We will not waver in our commitment to creating useful and user-friendly products as this process progresses.”
- In December 2014, President Obama nominated Mehta—the first Asian-Pacific American to hold a position on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. When the Federal Trade Commission attempted to stop the proposed merger of Sysco Corp. and US Foods, the country’s two biggest food distributors, he caused a stir early in his time on the federal bench.
- In October 2021, he made history by ruling that a former militant from Afghanistan was being held illegally at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. This was the first time in ten years that a detainee had prevailed in a case like this against the U.S. government. Mehta entered two classified opinions and a final order pertaining to the 2007 capture of Asadullah Haroon Gul by Afghan forces. Later, he was turned over to the United States and is still one of the 39 prisoners held at the Cuban prison.
- Prior to working as a clerk in the Ninth Circuit Court, he started his legal career in a San Francisco firm. From there, he worked at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Zuckerman Spaeder LLP where he focused on white-collar criminal cases, complex business disputes, and appellate advocacy.
- At the age of one, he and his parents, lab technician Ragini Mehta and engineer Priyavadan Mehta, immigrated to the United States. He was raised outside of Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Georgetown University’s undergraduate program in 1993 and the University of Virginia’s law program in 1997.
Judge Amit Mehta, an Indian American from Gujarat, is the author of the historic Google antitrust ruling
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