VOA英语：美国司法部对谷歌公司发起反垄断诉讼
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US Files Case against Google for Harming Competition
美国司法部对谷歌公司发起反垄断诉讼
By Mario Ritter, Jr.
20 October 2020
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday brought legal action against Google for its business methods. It said the company used its market power over internet search and advertising to limit competition and harm users.
美国司法部周二对谷歌公司的商业手段提起了法律诉讼。司法部称该公司利用其在互联网搜索和广告业务上的市场力量来限制竞争并伤害用户。
The case marks the government's most notable antitrust legal action since its case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. The U.S. started the case against Google while continuing its investigations into other major technology companies. Those companies include Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
这起案件是20多年前对微软提起诉讼以来美国政府最著名的反垄断诉讼。美国开始对谷歌公司提出诉讼，同时继续对其它科技公司进行调查。这些公司包括苹果、亚马逊和脸书。
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen led the antitrust case against Google. The government called Goggle the "gatekeeper for the internet." It said Google kept its power using methods "that are harmful to competition."
美国司法部副部长杰夫·罗森领导了这起针对谷歌公司的反垄断案件。美国政府称谷歌公司是“互联网看门人。”美国政府称谷歌利用“损害竞争的手段”来维持它的控制力。
Such methods include paying billions of dollars to companies like Apple, Samsung and T-Mobile to make Google the default search engine on mobile devices and internet browsers. And the company also entered agreements with companies to bar preinstalled software from competitors. Eleven states, all with Republican Party attorneys general, joined the federal government in the case.
这些手段包括向苹果、三星和T-Mobile等公司支付数十亿美元，以使谷歌成为移动设备和互联网浏览器上的默认搜索引擎。该公司还同各个公司达成协议，禁止预安装来自于竞争对手的软件。共有11个州联手联邦政府发起了这起诉讼，这些州的司法部长都是共和党人。
Google called the government's case "deeply flawed." The company said in a blog post, "People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives."
谷歌称这起政府案件存在“严重缺陷。”该公司在博客文章中表示：“人们使用谷歌是因为他们选择这样做，而不是因为他们被迫这样做或者找不到其他替代品。”
The company said that the case would "make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use." It defended the agreements as normal business methods that "are no different from the agreements that many other companies have traditionally used to distribute software."
该公司表示，此案将“使人们更难获得他们想要使用的搜索服务。”该公司辩称这些协议是正常商业手段，“与其它许多公司传统上采用的软件分发协议并没有什么不同。”
Google has such a commanding lead in the market that its name has become a verb to describe searching for information on the internet.
谷歌公司在市场上占有如此高的主导地位，其名称已经成为了描述在互联网上搜索信息的一个动词。
Statcounter reported that Google's Chrome browser has more than 66 percent of the worldwide market. And its Android software runs 74 percent of mobile phones around the world. The company also owns the top video website, YouTube, and operates the Google Map system.
Statcounter公司报告称，谷歌的Chrome浏览器已占据全球市场的66%以上。而且该公司的安卓软件在全球74%的手机上运行。该公司还拥有顶级视频网站Youtube，并运营Google Map系统。
The market value of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., is more than $1 trillion. The company reported more than $160 billion in earnings last year.
谷歌母公司Alphabet Inc.的市值已经超过1万亿美元。该公司去年公布的收益超过1600亿美元。
U.S. federal and state antitrust laws are designed to place limits on the economic power a business has over a market. The goal is to protect competition and Americans who use the company's goods and services. In 1974, the antitrust case against AT&T led to the breakup of the huge, American telephone company.
美国联邦和各州的反垄断法旨在限制企业在市场上的经济实力。目的是保护竞争以及使用该公司产品和服务的美国人。1974年，针对AT＆T公司的反垄断案导致这家庞大的美国电话公司破产。
When asked what action should be taken against Google, a Justice Department official said, "Nothing is off the table." The officials added that a court should hear all the evidence before any decisions are made.
当被问及会对谷歌公司采取什么行动时，司法部一位官员表示：“一切皆在考虑当中。”有关官员还表示，法院在做出任何裁决之前都会听取各方证据。
Two weeks ago, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee released its 16-month long investigation into the "state of competition in the digital economy." The committee called for stronger antitrust measures against Google along with Apple, Amazon and Facebook for their business methods.
两周前，美国众议院司法委员会反垄断小组委员会发布了他们对“数字经济竞争状况”为期16个月调查的结果。该委员会呼吁对谷歌、苹果、亚马逊以及脸书的商业手段采取更强力的反垄断措施。
Google has faced similar antitrust legal action outside the United States. The European Union fined Google $1.7 billion in 2019 for stopping websites from using Google's competitors to find advertisers.
谷歌在美国以外地区也面临类似的反垄断诉讼。欧盟在2019年因为谷歌阻止网站利用其竞争对手寻找广告商而对其罚款17亿美元。
The company was fined $2.6 billion in 2017 for hurting competitors of its own shopping business with its search engine. Google also was fined $4.9 billion in 2018 for blocking competing services on its wireless Android operating system.
该公司在2017年因为利用其搜索引擎伤害自有购物业务的竞争对手而被罚款26亿美元。谷歌还于2018年因为在该公司的安卓移动操作系统上阻止竞争服务而被罚款49亿美元。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。
Words in This Story
gatekeeper –n. a person or company that controls access to something
default –n.(computer) a setting that a computer operates in if a user does not choose a different setting
preinstalled –adj.(computer) a program that comes with a computer or device from the manufacturer and does not have to be added by the user
alternatives –n.(pl.) additional choices that can be made instead of something else
distribute –n.(computer) the process of providing software to the user
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