Google v. Oracle

In the American Thinker, Joe Messina writes in part,

...Google is currently involved in a lawsuit that, if successful, would catapult the tech giant’s economic influence into the stratosphere. Google v. Oracle is a case headed for review by the Supreme Court. There, the nine justices will be asked to decide whether privately-owned digital information -- in this case, software code -- is subject to the protections provided by copyright.

Google, having previously copied a portion of Oracle’s proprietary Java software, is arguing that copyright protection doesn’t apply in this instance. Sections of code, they claim, aren’t inherently copyrightable -- so Google was within their rights to replicate the code for their own ends.

It’s an argument that makes sense coming from a massively dominant tech company looking to cement itself as irreplaceable within the American economy. If the Supreme Court were to rule in Google’s favor, not only would the tech giant escape an $8.8 billion fine, but it would also be given free rein to copy other code as well. Unencumbered by copyright restrictions, Google would be able to replicate the software of its potential competitors.

...Google already boasts impressive economies of scale, with nearly 88 percent of the search engine market share. But with a positive Supreme Court decision, Google’s inherent marketplace advantage would become insurmountable. It could potentially integrate nearly any technology that would threaten the company’s preeminence, snuffing out competition before any even arises. Google would become precisely what Tucker Carlson warned about: a monopoly. Such an outcome would be devastating, not just for the tech industry, but the entire American economy.

Within the United States, no single company should be irreplaceable. No one entity should be so influential that its potential failure could jeopardize our nation’s entire economic structure. No company should be too big to fail. Yet, if Google triumphs in its Supreme Court lawsuit, it will become just that. It’s incredibly dangerous to allow any one company to become too powerful -- a lesson the United States has learned before, and a mistake we can’t afford to make again.

Read more here.