"By many measures, Google is a great organization... But why then does it need to pay Apple billions of dollars to keep competitors at bay?"

"The law is demanding that Google prove its greatness by playing the game, not by buying its way out of it. Being exposed to more competition might also serve as a stimulant for the company: Insulation from competition can be a narcotic.... [Some] may urge us to trust that large companies like Google are fundamentally well-intentioned. That view became dominant among antitrust officials during George W. Bush’s administration and has now prevailed for 20 years. It has left us with an economy that is too concentrated — unfair to workers, smaller producers and entrepreneurs. It has deepened economic inequality. It has also put so much political power in so few private hands that it alarms politicians on both the left and the right."

From "With the Google Lawsuit, the Long Antitrust Winter Is Over/The Justice Department is demanding that the company prove its greatness by competing in the market, not by buying its way out of it" by Columbia lawprof Tim Wu (NYT).