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MrDarcy04/24/20256 repliesview on HN

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mandevil04/24/2025

This is wildly wrong. Ever since the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 (1) companies are forbidden from using monopoly powers to force other parties to sign deals, which is the question about which Perplexity is testifying- whether Google is using it's market monopoly power in one area (cell phone operating systems) to force other companies to sign deals that unfairly hurt competitors in a different market (AI assistants). And that's been illegal for a very long time.

1: Named for John Sherman, General William Sherman's younger brother, who was a Senator from Ohio. That's how long this law has been around!

zodiakzz04/24/2025

Google could be running foul of antitrust laws if forcing Gemini as default on Android OEM's is part of the standard contract required to use the Android brand.

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3eb7988a166304/24/2025

You mean like two people agreeing to sell drugs to each other? Organs? Prostitution?

gostsamo04/24/2025

mmm, which part of the constitution? I remember one explicit delegation to the federal government of the cross border trade, plus a long list of items that people are forbidden from trading freely, plus, recently, a long list of items where the government meddles by imposing taxes on imported trade.

dayvigo04/24/2025

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hotstickyballs04/24/2025

True, but this just added extra visibility to the anti trust case