SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court jury has decided that Google’s Android app store has been protected by anticompetitive barriers which have damaged smartphone consumers and software developers, dealing a blow to a significant pillar of a technology empire.
The unanimous verdict reached Monday got here after just three hours of deliberation following a four-week trial revolving around a lucrative payment system inside Google’s Play store. The shop is the important place where a whole lot of tens of millions of individuals around the globe download and install apps that work on smartphones powered by Google’s Android software.
Epic Games, the maker of the favored Fortnite video game, filed a lawsuit against Google three years ago, alleging that the web powerhouse has been abusing its power to shield its Play Store from competition with a purpose to protect a gold mine that makes billions of dollars annually. Just as Apple does for its iPhone app store, Google collects a commission starting from 15% to 30% on digital transactions accomplished inside apps.
Apple prevailed in an analogous case that Epic brought against the iPhone app store, however the 2021 trial was decided by a federal judge in a ruling that’s under appeal on the U.S. Supreme Court.
However the nine-person jury within the Play store case apparently saw things through a special lens, despite the fact that Google technically allows Android apps to be downloaded from different stores — an option that Apple prohibits on the iPhone.
Just before the Play store trial began, Google sought to avoid having a jury determine the end result, only to have its request rejected by U.S. District Judge James Donato. Now it should be as much as Donato to find out what steps Google can have to take to unwind its illegal behavior within the Play Store. The judge indicated he’ll hold hearings on the difficulty in the course of the second week of January.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney broke right into a wide grin after the decision was read and slapped his lawyers on the back and likewise shook the hand of a Google attorney, who he thanked for his skilled attitude in the course of the proceedings.
Google didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment concerning the trial’s end result.
