In a new filing, Google fights back against Epic Games’ many suggested solutions to the problem that a court found Google did things on its Play Store that hurt competition. After the jury’s decision at the end of last year, both sides made their points for why Google should have to change how it acts because of the decision. Epic Games, for its part, made a very long list of demands, such as being able to use the Play Store’s library of apps and games for six years, being able to put its own app store on Google Play for free, and a lot more. It also wanted to get rid of all contracts, deals, rewards, and fines that would give the Play Store or Google Play Billing an edge over competitors.
It was a historic decision that the tech giant lost so quickly and unexpectedly, especially since Epic Games had mostly lost a similar antitrust case with Apple that had not been heard by a jury. The court in the Epic vs. Apple case said that Apple was not a monopolist and that developers should be able to tell their customers about other ways to pay online. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, but they chose not to hear it. This meant that the lower court’s decision stood.
Google’s jury was sure that the tech giant used its market power in illegal ways, but it wasn’t allowed to decide what to do next. That was the judge’s job. On May 23, Judge James Donato will hear the new filing and Epic’s plan. This information will help him decide what steps to take next to limit Google’s power.
In April, Epic Games laid out its requests in a proposed injunction, which you can read here. At a high level, Epic wants Google to let people choose whether to download apps from any app store or the web. It doesn’t want Google to be able to stop OEMs or carriers from using Google Play or force them to do so. Also, Epic Games doesn’t want Google to be able to charge extra for going around the Play Store, which the company sees as hurting competition.
The company that made Fortnite also asked the court to make other changes, such as letting Epic access the Play Store catalog so it can update users’ apps without showing them warning screens or charging extra. Also, Epic wants developers to be able to tell its users how to pay for apps and services somewhere else and how much money they can save done so. It wants to get rid of the need to use Google’s “User Choice Billing,” which gives developers who handle their own payments only a small discount, among other things.
Google doesn’t agree with the court on how things should go, of course.
Wilson White, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, said in a statement that Epic’s requests were too much and weren’t needed.
He said that Epic’s demands would hurt the privacy, security, and general experience of users, developers, and companies that make devices. Their plan goes far beyond the recent U.S. trial decision, which we will be challenging. It’s also not needed because we reached a settlement with the attorneys general of all 50 states and several territories last year. We will keep fighting hard for our right to a long-term business model that lets us keep people safe, work with developers to help them come up with new ideas and grow their businesses, and keep the Android environment thriving for everyone.
Google says that Epic’s demands put users’ privacy and security at risk because they would stop Google from putting in place trust and safety measures for third-party app shops. The injunction was filed Thursday in a U.S. District Court in California. Apple has used a similar argument to fight rules that would have let other companies sell apps in its App Store, saying that it is responsible for the protection and safety of its users.
Google also says it would have to tell all third-party app stores about loaded apps, even if the user doesn’t agree. This would make the use of private apps public, even when they are used for sensitive topics like health, religion, or politics, and there would be no rules on how that information could be used.
The business also said that Epic has asked them to take away protections for sideloading apps.
If those reasons don’t work, Google also says that the fixes Epic suggested aren’t needed because the company already agreed with state attorneys general not to sign large exclusivity deals with developers. Epic’s plan would also stop Google from working with developers to offer exclusive material through Play Store apps, which Epic says is a great chance for developers.
Lastly, Google said that the state AG settlement would let any app store fight for placement on Android devices. However, Epic’s plan would keep it from that process, which would lower the level of competition. It said that if Google wasn’t involved, competing app shops would offer lower prices, which would hurt OEM profits.
Also Read: Google Fires People From the Flutter, Dart, and Python Teams Just Weeks Before Its Developer Meeting
If the judge rules that this case needs a remedy, it will be interesting to see what they say. This is because app shops that are found to be monopolists will have to make changes to let more competition in. Even though Epic lost its case against Apple, the Justice Department is still suing the iPhone maker and is also suing Google over what it says is a search monopoly. The results of these cases will show how much power tech giants will continue to have without being limited, since the U.S. does not have any laws that would limit the power of tech companies..
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