Google is currently facing antitrust lawsuits that are aiming to lessen its dominance, but a lawsuit filed by Ohio’s attorney general is arguing that, in fact, Google’s dominance makes it a public utility, and that it should be treated as such.
Ohio is the first US state to bring such a suit, in which it claims Google has a duty to provide competitors with the same advertising opportunities as it does its own services.
“When you own the railroad or the electric company or the cellphone tower, you have to treat everyone the same and give everybody access,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Google is, not surprisingly, refuting this. “Ohioans simply don’t want the government to run Google like a gas or electric company,” a spokesman for the company said.
“This lawsuit has no basis in fact or law and we’ll defend ourselves against it in court.”
