Apple, Amazon, and Samsung are battling the giant antitrust monopolists: A brief testimony on Google’s actions against the Epic case
Some of the remedies proposed by Epic are “open-ended and too vague,” according to Donato, but may not be as many as they want. “I want to be clear: Google as an illegal monopolist will have to pay some penalties,” Donato said during the hearing. “This case is about the opportunity to compete generally. Relief that is going to give a helping hand only to Epic is not what I am looking for. What we are doing is leveling the playing field and lifting the barriers.”
Epic is hoping the court approves several remedies it had previously submitted, which Google claims are over the top and would “harm the privacy, security, and overall experience of consumers.” So all eyes are on Judge James Donato, who heard testimony on both sides and offered some hints as to how he’s leaning.
Rival app stores such as those from Amazon and Samsung also have struggled to persuade developers to list their apps outside of Google Play, because maintaining apps in multiple stores takes extra work. To make the game even more playing field, Epic is suggesting that Google provide rival stores a way to list apps hosted on the Play Store for six years. That would allow people to browse alternative stores without feeling they are missing out on popular apps, giving the store a better chance of success in the long term.
We are going for a walk for a while. We have to do things in a different way due to breaking the antitrust laws.