It looks like the developers’ requests are “beyond the scope of the recent US trial verdict.”
The antitrust action that Epic Games filed against Google was successful in December, when a federal jury determined that Google had broken antitrust laws in the United States with regard to the manner in which it operates the Play Store. After a few months had passed, the gaming developer presented its list of requests, which, if given the opportunity to be adopted, would completely open up the Play Store. As of right now, Google has submitted an injunction, stating that it will not give Epic what it wants without a struggle. This is due to the fact that Epic’s demands “stray far beyond the trial record.”
In the filing that was seen by Engadget, Google wrote that the remedies that Epic had proposed would require the court to not only establish a global regulatory regime to determine the prices of apps, but also to micromanage “a highly complex and dynamic ecosystem” that is utilized by billions of consumers and app developers all over the world. When you think back on it, Epic is requesting that Google make its Android platform accessible to third-party app shops and that it also make its app library accessible to those stores. In addition to this, it intends to impose limits on pre-installed applications and to prohibit any conduct on Google’s behalf that provides incentives to third-party organizations.
According to Google, if it were to give in to all of those demands, it would “effectively prevent [it]from competing,” which would have a severe impact on Android users and developers. However, Google stated in its filing that Epic’s plans will solely benefit Epic, and that they will be detrimental to other developers since they will deprive them of control over where their program is delivered. Manufacturers would no longer be able to take benefit of the relationships that Google generally provides, while users will be forced to deal with new dangers to their privacy and security.
The corporation also criticized Epic for the “vagueness” of its requested injunction, which would necessitate the intervention of the courts on multiple occasions and on an ongoing basis. Likewise, it would appear that Epic’s requests would necessitate the court to exercise micromanagement over Google’s operations.
Wilson White, who is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, issued a statement to Engadget in which he stated that Epic’s requests would be detrimental to the privacy, security, and overall experience of customers, developers, and device manufacturers. “Not only does their plan go much beyond the scope of the recent trial ruling in the United States, which we will be appealing, but it is also superfluous due to the settlement that we struck with State Attorneys General from every state and several territories last year. We are committed to continuing to actively defend our right to a sustainable revenue model that enables us to keep people safe, collaborate with developers to innovate and expand their companies, and ensure that the Android ecosystem continues to thrive for everyone.
It was said by Google that if Epic actually wants to foster competition rather than establish “an unfair, court-supervised advantage for itself,” then it would draw notes from the deal that it reached with the state regulators who had previously accused the firm of exploiting its stronghold on Android app distribution. The Chief Executive Officer of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, expressed his dissatisfaction with the settlement in a tweet at the time. He stated, “If Google is ending its payments monopoly without imposing a Google Tax on third party transactions, we will settle and be Google’s friend in their new era.” However, if the settlement only compensates the other claimants and does not change the Google Tax, then we will continue to fight for our rights. Consumers will only reap the benefits of antitrust enforcement if it not only opens up markets but also brings back pricing competition with other businesses.