Tech giant has accused Moscow of trying to extort money to help fund Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine
The tech giant’s Irish arm has secured a default judgment in a California court that will also force the liquidator of the Russian unit into arbitration related to a long-running dispute.
The US court had ordered last April that the judgment be entered against Google Russia, but gave the company a final chance to make an appearance. Since it failed to do so, the court has this week ordered the judgment be made against it.
Google Ireland has previously claimed that the liquidator was trying to extort the $1.3bn to help fund Russia’s war on Ukraine. Google Ireland has also previously said that it was the subject of a “world legal war” being waged by Russia against it.
So-called astreintes penalties that have been secured by propaganda media outlets against Google in Russia could reach an unprecedented €121nonillion, or 121 followed by 30 zeros.
The offices of Google Ireland in Dublin. Photo: Getty
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – October 1st
During the summer, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that those unprecedented fines were in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The dispute in California stems from contracts entered into between Google Ireland and Russian firms including Nao Tsargrad Media in 2014.
Tsargrad Media is indirectly majority owned by Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch.
Mr Malofeyev has supported Russia’s war against Ukraine and has been sanctioned by the US and EU since 2014 for being complicit in, or for having engaged in, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Tsargrad Media sued Google’s US and Irish units, and Google Russia, in 2020 after the tech group ceased providing services to the firm.
In 2021, a Russian court ordered that Tsargrad Media’s Google account and YouTube channel be reinstated. It imposed a penalty of 100,000 roubles (€1,032) for each day of non-compliance, doubling each week.
Default judgment is appropriate where a defendant refuses to litigate a case
Earlier this year, Google Ireland brought an action in California to prevent Google Russia from further litigating claims against it in Russia, in violation of the parties’ agreements to arbitrate disputes, and for that arbitration to be undertaken in the US.
The specific Russian action linked to the US lawsuit is an attempt by the liquidator of Google Russia to enforce reseller agreements (RSAs) signed in 2009 and 2018 between Google Ireland and Google Russia.
Google Ireland initially secured a temporary restraining order preventing Google Russia from pursuing any claims against the Irish unit.
For a number of months, the liquidator of Google Russia has not engaged with the case in California.
“Although public policy strongly favours deciding each case on its merits, default judgment is appropriate where a defendant refuses to litigate a case and where default judgment is the plaintiff’s only recourse against the defendant,” noted the court.
The court has ruled that mandatory arbitration provisions in the relevant reseller agreements are binding on Google Russia and compel arbitration.
The US court has also made permanent an injunction that prevents Google Russia, its liquidator and agents from “commencing, prosecuting, continuing, taking any steps in, or otherwise participating in any proceedings to pursue or redress any claims on behalf of Google Russia against Google Ireland” relating to the RSAs, except in arbitration proceedings.