Written by Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) – Google has asked a federal judge in California to suspend a sweeping court order that would have opened its Play app store to increased competition.
Google said in a court filing Friday night that U.S. District Judge James Donato’s injunction, which goes into effect Nov. 1, would harm the company and “create critical safety, security, and privacy risks to the Android ecosystem.” “It would pose a risk,” he said.
The Alphabet Inc.-owned technology giant asked Donato to put the order on hold while it appeals.
A judge issued an injunction on Oct. 7 in a lawsuit filed last year by Fortnite maker Epic Games, banning Google from illegally restricting the way consumers download apps and pay for in-app transactions on Android devices. convinced a federal jury that it had a monopoly on
The judge’s order said Google must allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms and stores, and can no longer prohibit the use of competing in-app payment methods. It would also prohibit Google from paying device manufacturers to pre-install the app store or from sharing revenue from the Play Store with other app distributors.
If Donato rejects Google’s bid to stay the injunction, the company will appeal the jury’s underlying antitrust verdict while the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holds the injunction. may be requested to do so.
Google filed a notice of appeal with the Ninth Circuit on Thursday. The appeals court is expected to ultimately consider and rule on Google’s challenge to Donato’s order.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by William MacLean and Frances Kelly)
