James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law Chris Sagers was quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal, for his thoughts on a potential antitrust enforcement action by the Federal Trade Commission against Google.  While no complaint has yet been filed, indications are that the Commission will sue Google for having monopolized the market for “internet search.”  Google acknowledged in summer 2011 that the Commission had begun an internal investigation, and observers believe recent steps indicate that an FTC complaint is imminent.  Prominently, in April the Commission announced its hiring of a high profile Washington litigator to head a potential Google prosecution team, and just this week Google announced the publication of two Google-sponsored white papers written by prominent academics in its defense.  Asked whether these steps increased the likelihood of a complaint, Sagers said “the ‘mutual saber-rattling’ is an indication that both sides are girding for battle. Google ‘is laying out its legal strategy as a way to make the FTC blink’ . . .  while the agency’s move to bring in Ms. Wilkinson ‘demonstrates that they’re not going to back down.’ ”

The article is available here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304543904577396483337361246.html