Take Your Medicine
District Court Judge Amit Mehta, speaking at a conference in Brussels yesterday, defended the remedies he recently handed down following Google’s guilty conviction in the DOJ’s search antitrust case.
Google rivals and antagonists, many of whom thought a forced Chrome divestiture wasn’t out of the question, were heated about the milquetoast penalties enforced by the court.
“We’re required to be restrained,” Mehta said of antitrust judges, as reported on the ground by legal news outlet MLex.
He also stressed the importance of judicial “humility” – and actually said he thought the DOJ’s antitrust division had overreached in its remedy proposals. The DOJ sought, but didn’t get, a structural fix to Google’s illegal search monopoly.
Mehta’s punishment instead bans Google from entering into exclusive, default deals with phone makers, browsers and other companies that license the Google search engine.
Trial courts, Mehta argued, should be “cautious” in handing down remedies. He went on to cite Mozilla’s testimony (h/t Vidushi Dyall) that without Google’s search deal, it would lose 85% of its $570 million annual revenue.
De End Of De Minimis
The demise of de minimis will have a maximus effect on both retailers and their customers.
The de minimis rule, a longtime policy that allows companies to avoid import fees on packages worth less than $800, was scheduled to end in July 2027 – until a Trump executive order abruptly terminated it last month.
Holiday budgets are gonna take a hit. Brands are now asking for three or four flexible ad plans for the holiday season, Vic Drabicky, founder and CEO of agency January Digital, tells Adweek.
Meanwhile, in order to offset higher import prices, China-based retailers will jack up prices, which is likely to discourage consumers from buying their products, says Mark Power, founder of ecommerce agency Podean.
The good news, according to Drabicky, is that the loss of de minimis is likely to reduce the number of counterfeit products being distributed in the market.
But it’s also going to have an impact on electronic sales, which rely heavily on importation, and encourage retailers to buy in bulk rather than from independent sellers.
WhatsOops
WhatsApp’s former head of security is suing Meta, alleging the company violated data privacy regulations in multiple jurisdictions, The Guardian reports.
Attaullah Baig was WhatsApp’s head of security from 2021 to 2025. During that time, he says that 1,500 WhatsApp engineers had unrestricted access to user data, beyond what was required for their daily tasks. Baig also claims that engineers could steal user data, including contact information, IP addresses and photos, without leaving any auditable trail of their activities.
According to Baig, Meta also failed to address hackers taking over more than 100,000 WhatsApp accounts per day.
These security shortfalls could violate privacy laws in multiple countries as well as a 2019 US government consent order imposed on Meta (back when it was still called Facebook) after the company was fined $5 billion for harvesting user data following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Baig also says his efforts to flag these security lapses resulted in Meta retaliating against him with poor performance reviews, eventually leading to his firing. He is seeking reinstatement to his role, back pay and regulatory action against Meta.
However, Meta argues Baig’s claims are the machinations of a disgruntled former employee and notes that the US Department of Labor dismissed his claims of retaliation.
But Wait! There’s More!
Now that the de minimis rule has finally, actually ended, it’s wreaking havoc on American hobbies. [404 Media]
Are AI tools reinventing misogyny? [Wired]
Jimmy Fallon discusses his upcoming brand-centric advertising reality show. [Adweek]
The AI industry’s obsession with deregulation may prove to be its downfall. [Tech Policy Press]
A startup helmed by a former Wondery exec aims to flood the podcast market with AI-generated content. [The Hollywood Reporter]
You’re Hired!
Data infrastructure provider MetaRouter appoints former Walmart exec Nikhil Raj as CEO. [release]
The Guardian US hires Zachary Press as its senior counsel for media. [post]
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