Google just won a small but important victory in an epic legal battle. Last week, the company asked Judge James Donato to press pause on the Nov. 1 deadline for making sweeping changes to the Android app store rules. Today, he did just that, Epic and Google confirmed. The Verge, Grant Google a temporary administrative stay. This means Google may not have to change its Play Store practices for years, if any, while it appeals the ruling.
In December, a jury unanimously decided that Google’s Android app store, Play Store, had become an illegal monopoly, but Google is currently appealing the jury’s verdict and court order.
Technically speaking, today’s administrative temporary stay is long enough to allow an appellate court to consider a long-term stay by simply setting the clock back a little, but Judge Donato said on the court that the 9th He reportedly expressed doubt that the circuit would allow that long stay. Until Google wins their appeal, just leave Google alone. The judge himself refused to grant Google a long stay.
Had Judge Donato left the original deadline in place, his order could have forced developers to stop using Google Play Billing as early as November 1st. Google would also have been prohibited from using certain financial incentives to keep developers loyal to the store. Additionally, it would have started an eight-month countdown until Google introduced a third-party app marketplace within its Play Store. You can read the full list of changes Judge Donato ordered in his permanent injunction, embedded here.
Initially, Judge Donato gave Google less than a month to initiate app store fraud, and Google should now give Apple the same 90-day window to make app store changes. he claimed. (Google also argued that Epic, which brought both Apple and Google’s lawsuits, did not object to the 90-day deadline.) With Donato’s original deadline lifted, Google could at least temporarily will be released from the crisis and potentially start in the same situation. The path Apple took was to delay the removal of App Store manipulation rules for more than two years.
Without the stay, Judge Donato’s ruling could have had an almost immediate impact on consumers as well as developers. Microsoft, for example, announced it would let you buy and play games on the Xbox Android app, and Epic announced it would bring the Epic Games Store to Google Play next year. Unless the Ninth Circuit rejects a stay, it could take years for that to happen.
Google speaks The Verge I’m happy with today’s decision:
We are satisfied with the district court’s decision to temporarily halt implementation of the dangerous remedies requested by Epic. The Court of Appeals will consider our request to further suspend the relief pending appeal. These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience, and we want to protect our 100 million U.S. Android users, more than 500,000 U.S. developers, and our platform. We look forward to continuing to advocate to protect the thousands of partners who benefit from.
Epic declined to comment.
