6

iTWire - Epic Games prevails in anti-trust suit against Google

 11 months ago
source link: https://itwire.com/your-it-news/entertainment/epic-games-prevails-in-anti-trust-suit-against-google.html
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
neoserver,ios ssh client

Tuesday, 12 December 2023 18:35

Epic Games prevails in anti-trust suit against Google Featured

By Sam Varghese

Epic Games prevails in anti-trust suit against Google

Image by Sang Hyun Cho from Pixabay

Fortnite creator Epic Games has won an anti-trust case against Google which it filed three years ago, claiming that the app store policies of the latter violated anti-trust laws both at the US federal level and in California state.

On Monday, the nine-person jury unanimously found for Epic in a trial that began on 6 November.

The jury found that Google had violated the law by having a monopoly in the app distribution market for Android smartphone and for in-app billing services worldwide apart from China.

It ruled that the search giant's deals with developers on app distribution, with gaming companies including Activision and agreements with smartphone makers for pre-installation of its apps violated competition law.

Google was found to have tied the use of its Play Store to the use of its Play billing station.

The main argument used by Google to deflect Epic's claims was that it had to compete against Apple"s App Store — which is more popular in the US — and hence could not be accused of being a monopoly for Android phones.

Two years ago, Epic, in large part, lost a similar trial against Apple, which was decided by a judge. Both companies are making a bid to approach the US Supreme Court for an appeal.

Justice James Donato of the US District Court for the Northern District of California will decide next year on the penalties to be imposed on Google.

In a statement, Wilson White, a Google vice-president of government affairs, said the company would appeal against the verdict.

White said the trial had shown clearly "that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles".

In a blog post, Epic said the verdict "is a win for all app developers and consumers around the world. It proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation.

"Over the course of the trial we saw evidence that Google was willing to pay billions of dollars to stifle alternative app stores by paying developers to abandon their own store efforts and direct distribution plans, and offering highly lucrative agreements with device manufacturers in exchange for excluding competing app stores.

"These deals were meant to cement Google’s dominance as the only app store in town – and it worked. More than 95% of apps are distributed through the Play Store on Android.

"Google imposes a 30% tax on developers simply because they have prevented any viable competitors from emerging to offer better deals. And Google executives acknowledged in Court that their offer of a 26% rate on third party payment options is a fake choice for developers.

"This is, of course, what we know. From the chief executive down, Google employees willfully re-directed sensitive conversations to chat, knowing that their contents would be deleted forever.

"The evidence presented in this case demonstrates the urgent need for legislation and regulations that address Apple and Google strangleholds over smartphones, including with promising legislation in progress right now with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill in the UK and the Digital Markets Act in the EU."

Google is fighting another anti-trust case at the moment, one which is said to be the biggest such case against a company since Microsoft was hauled before the courts in the late 1990s.

Read 11 times

Please join our community here and become a VIP.

Subscribe to ITWIRE UPDATE Newsletter here
JOIN our iTWireTV our YouTube Community here
BACK TO LATEST NEWS here


Lead-Machine_pink_600x260.jpg

GARTNER MARKET GUIDE FOR NDR 2022

You probably know that we are big believers in Network Detection and Response (NDR).

Did you realise that Gartner also recommends that security teams prioritise NDR solutions to enhance their detection and response?

Picking the right NDR for your team and process can sometimes be the biggest challenge.

If you want to try out a Network Detection and Response tool, why not start with the best?

Vectra Network Detection and Response is the industry's most advanced AI-driven attack defence for identifying and stopping malicious tactics in your network without noise or the need for decryption.


Download the 2022 Gartner Market Guide for Network Detection and Response (NDR) for recommendations on how Network Detection and Response solutions can expand deeper into existing on-premises networks, and new cloud environments.

DOWNLOAD NOW!

PROMOTE YOUR WEBINAR ON ITWIRE

It's all about Webinars.

Marketing budgets are now focused on Webinars combined with Lead Generation.

If you wish to promote a Webinar we recommend at least a 3 to 4 week campaign prior to your event.

The iTWire campaign will include extensive adverts on our News Site itwire.com and prominent Newsletter promotion https://itwire.com/itwire-update.html and Promotional News & Editorial. Plus a video interview of the key speaker on iTWire TV https://www.youtube.com/c/iTWireTV/videos which will be used in Promotional Posts on the iTWire Home Page.

Now we are coming out of Lockdown iTWire will be focussed to assisting with your webinars and campaigns and assistance via part payments and extended terms, a Webinar Business Booster Pack and other supportive programs. We can also create your adverts and written content plus coordinate your video interview.

We look forward to discussing your campaign goals with you. Please click the button below.

MORE INFO HERE!


About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK