Media outlets win fight to gain faster access to Google trial evidence

Slowly but surely, the public will start gaining more access to evidence shared in the Department of Justice's antitrust trial probing Google's search business, following an intervention by press outlets. In a motion to intervene, outlets earlier this month told the court that they were struggling to cover the trial because much of the evidence and proceedings has been withheld, redacted, or closed off entirely to protect industry trade secrets.

Yesterday, Judge Amit Mehta granted some of the demands of outlets—including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, MLex, and Law360—which, among other requests, had asked the court to mandate the sharing of dozens of exhibits that the public has so far been denied access to despite pending press requests.

Mehta said that the supplemental order and other recent orders would allow the court to "continue facilitating public access to the trial and minimizing the need to close the courtroom while providing for the protection of confidential information."