3,494
06-08-2024, 09:23 PM
In our universe, there is a door, we live behind it. A peek through the door will show you how we have monetized justice.
From ArsTechnica: Google avoids jury trial by sending $2.3 million check to US government
Subtitled: Google gets a bench trial after sending unexpected check to Justice Department.
Google has achieved its goal of avoiding a jury trial in one antitrust case after sending a $2.3 million check to the US Department of Justice. Google will face a bench trial, a trial conducted by a judge without a jury, after a ruling today that the preemptive check is big enough to cover any damages that might have been awarded by a jury.
So a Federal judge decided that "That ought to do!" to cover any damages claim. The judge decided that.
Removing the element of damages from any suit such as this makes it "acceptable" to waive the jury trail (since ostensibly, the jury would only have input as to damages.) Google has managed to mitigate their liability by offering up an amount "deemed" to be "enough."
But wait there's more...
The payment was unusual, but so was the US request for a jury trial because antitrust cases are typically heard by a judge without a jury.
I wonder why that is...
The US argued that a jury should rule on damages because US government agencies were overcharged for advertising.
The real story is that 8 states brought this suit against Google (over a year ago) and 11 more have joined since. It appears that this wasn't some outrageous bill... it was many, many outrageous bills charged to a whole lot of state governments. The US legal folks "opposed" the summary elimination of the jury trial... They noted that the amount spontaneously provided by Google was far less that their estimates of damages... and further
... that "the check it delivered did not actually compensate the United States for the full extent of its claimed damages" and that "the unilateral offer of payment was improperly premised on Google's insistence that such payment 'not be construed' as an admission of damages."
The government's damages expert calculated damages that were "much higher" than the amount cited by Google, the US filing said. In last week's filing, the higher damages amount sought by the government was redacted.
"Redacted..." I wonder why that is? Remember, we're talking about over $100 million in business from these 'government' entities since 2019.
The US government lawsuit said that federal agencies bought over $100 million in advertising since 2019 and aimed to recover treble damages for Google's alleged overcharges on those purchases.
Somebody help me out... 3 x 100 million is what now?
But the government narrowed its claims to the ad purchases of just eight agencies, lowering the potential damages amount.
I guess you gotta "help a guy out" right? Justice for the megacorp... it's so gentle, like a baby's bottom.
Google sent the check in mid-May. While the amount wasn't initially public, Google said it contained "every dollar the United States could conceivably hope to recover under the damages calculation of the United States' own expert." Google also said it "continues to dispute liability and welcomes a full resolution by this Court of all remaining claims in the Complaint."
The remainder of the article is a worthy read if you follow just how justice works for those "in the club." I mean "Anti-Trust" is a criminal matter, no? DOJ... it almost looked like you were trying to redeem yourselves... almost.
From ArsTechnica: Google avoids jury trial by sending $2.3 million check to US government
Subtitled: Google gets a bench trial after sending unexpected check to Justice Department.
Google has achieved its goal of avoiding a jury trial in one antitrust case after sending a $2.3 million check to the US Department of Justice. Google will face a bench trial, a trial conducted by a judge without a jury, after a ruling today that the preemptive check is big enough to cover any damages that might have been awarded by a jury.
So a Federal judge decided that "That ought to do!" to cover any damages claim. The judge decided that.
Removing the element of damages from any suit such as this makes it "acceptable" to waive the jury trail (since ostensibly, the jury would only have input as to damages.) Google has managed to mitigate their liability by offering up an amount "deemed" to be "enough."
But wait there's more...
The payment was unusual, but so was the US request for a jury trial because antitrust cases are typically heard by a judge without a jury.
I wonder why that is...
The US argued that a jury should rule on damages because US government agencies were overcharged for advertising.
The real story is that 8 states brought this suit against Google (over a year ago) and 11 more have joined since. It appears that this wasn't some outrageous bill... it was many, many outrageous bills charged to a whole lot of state governments. The US legal folks "opposed" the summary elimination of the jury trial... They noted that the amount spontaneously provided by Google was far less that their estimates of damages... and further
... that "the check it delivered did not actually compensate the United States for the full extent of its claimed damages" and that "the unilateral offer of payment was improperly premised on Google's insistence that such payment 'not be construed' as an admission of damages."
The government's damages expert calculated damages that were "much higher" than the amount cited by Google, the US filing said. In last week's filing, the higher damages amount sought by the government was redacted.
"Redacted..." I wonder why that is? Remember, we're talking about over $100 million in business from these 'government' entities since 2019.
The US government lawsuit said that federal agencies bought over $100 million in advertising since 2019 and aimed to recover treble damages for Google's alleged overcharges on those purchases.
Somebody help me out... 3 x 100 million is what now?
But the government narrowed its claims to the ad purchases of just eight agencies, lowering the potential damages amount.
I guess you gotta "help a guy out" right? Justice for the megacorp... it's so gentle, like a baby's bottom.
Google sent the check in mid-May. While the amount wasn't initially public, Google said it contained "every dollar the United States could conceivably hope to recover under the damages calculation of the United States' own expert." Google also said it "continues to dispute liability and welcomes a full resolution by this Court of all remaining claims in the Complaint."
The remainder of the article is a worthy read if you follow just how justice works for those "in the club." I mean "Anti-Trust" is a criminal matter, no? DOJ... it almost looked like you were trying to redeem yourselves... almost.
