San Francisco:
A U.S. judge on Monday ordered Google to release its Android smartphone operating system to rival app stores, in another legal setback for the tech giant.
The order comes after Google lost an antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, after a California jury found that Google had illegal monopolistic power through the Android Play Store. The court ruled that it exercised the
A San Francisco jury in December ruled against Google in just a few hours, finding that the company had undertaken a variety of illegal strategies to maintain its app store monopoly on Android phones.
The order, which Google is appealing, follows a similar setback in August when another judge found that Google’s world-class search engine was also an illegal monopoly.
Google also faces antitrust action in a third federal case in Virginia over its online advertising monopoly.
Under Epic Games’ order, Google will be prohibited for the next three years from engaging in several practices deemed anticompetitive by the jury in the landmark case.
These prohibitions include revenue sharing with potential competitors and the requirement that developers launch their apps only on the Play Store.
The judge also ordered the creation of a three-member technical committee to oversee the implementation of the changes and resolve any disputes that may arise.
This injunction represents a significant challenge to Google’s dominance in the Android app ecosystem and could reshape the mobile app landscape in the coming years.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney urged companies to seize this opportunity to “build a vibrant, competitive Android ecosystem with critical mass that Google can’t stop.”
He also stressed that the changes apply only to the United States, but promised that “the regulatory battle will continue around the world.”
– Google appeals –
Google said it would appeal the injunction and also request that it be stayed pending the outcome of its ongoing legal challenges.
The judge said the order would take effect from November 1, with some provisions to take effect by July 1.
“We will continue to advocate for what’s best for developers, device manufacturers and the billions of Android users around the world,” said LeeAnne Mulholland, the company’s vice president of regulatory affairs.
Mobile phones running on the Android operating system account for approximately 70% of the global smartphone market.
Smartphone companies can install Android apps for free, provided the Play app store remains on the homepage and other Google services are preinstalled.
The jury found that Google worked illegally to ensure that the only channel for payments for third-party apps like Fortnite and other games was through the Google Play app store.
A significant portion of the app store’s revenue comes from video games, and Epic Games has long explored ways to take payments for mobile games like Fortnite outside of Google and Apple’s app stores, where fees can be as high as 30%. Ta.
Epic nearly lost a similar lawsuit against Apple, but in this case another U.S. judge ruled largely in the iPhone maker’s favor.
Apple and Google regularly claim that app shop fees are industry standard and that they pay for benefits such as reach, transaction security, and malware prevention.
Google also claimed that its deals with smartphone makers make its Android devices more competitive with Apple’s iPhones.
But the lawsuit revealed that Google rakes in tens of billions of dollars in revenue through its app stores.
To maintain a one-stop shop for apps, Google paid smartphone manufacturers a portion of their revenue in exchange for the Play Store remaining the exclusive gateway.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
