Back in December, Epic Games. The jury found that the company had an illegal monopoly over in-app billing and app distribution on Android devices and engaged in anti-competitive conduct with certain gaming companies and device manufacturers.
At the time, it was unclear what exactly won the day as a remedy had not yet been determined.this fort night The manufacturer has now submitted a proposed permanent injunction against Google, detailing its demands. In short, Epic wants the Play Store to be almost completely open.
The ban is based on three core points. Epic noted in a blog post. First, Epic believes that Google must let users download apps from wherever they want without being hindered. It says people should be able to add apps to Android devices in the same way they add apps from a computer (from any app store or the web).
Epic wants to stop Google from scaring people away from downloading apps from the web (although it’s okay to let Google block malware). It also wants to prevent the company from working with carriers and phone manufacturers to limit consumers’ options for downloading apps. Beyond that, Epic wants to remove the restriction of pre-installed app stores. Therefore, if the ban is approved, we may see Android phones pre-installed with the Epic Games Store app in the future.
Second, Epic believes that Google must allow developers and users to freely choose how to offer and pay for in-app purchases “without anti-competitive fees and restrictions.” It claims that Google must let developers add links to websites in their apps so they can offer discounts on websites because they can bypass Google’s in-app payments through the Play Store.
Epic begins legal battle with Google (and Apple) in 2020, stating fort night Under the proposed ban, Google would be unable to attempt to pass compliance programs such as .
The third purpose of Epic’s proposed injunction is to prevent Google from retaliating against it (or any app or developer) for app store practices. “Google has a history of malicious compliance and attempts to circumvent legislation and regulations designed to control anti-competitive controls on Android devices,” Epic wrote. “The injunction we propose is intended to prevent Google from repeating past malicious tactics and to protect all developers from and opening up competition and choice in Android devices to consumers.”
Learn more details about Epic’s demands, including asking Google to divest its products and services, such as Android APIs, from the Play Store. Within six years, Epic wants Google to allow third-party app stores free access to the Play Store and give them access to the Play Store’s app library. This also means allowing third-party app stores to handle updates for Play Store apps. Epic wants Google to appoint a compliance committee to ensure it also complies with the ban.
We may not have to wait too long to find out how many of Epic’s requests have been approved by the courts. Google will respond to the proposal by May 2 and will hold a hearing on the ban on May 23.
Google has had to make many similar changes in the EU due to the EU’s Digital Markets Act. However, parent company Alphabet and Apple are concerned that they won’t freely allow developers to bypass the Play Store and App Store.
Meanwhile, thanks to DMA, Epic plans to launch iOS and Android versions in the EU later this year. It also still competes with Apple over third-party payments in the United States.
