In-App Purchase Fees and the Future of App Store: A US District Judge’s Benchmark after Epic’s 2020 Moot Court Case
The future of the app store is at stake in a lawsuit. Epic sued Google in 2020 after a fight over in-app purchase fees, claiming the Android operating system’s Google Play Store constituted an unlawful monopoly — while Google says its demands would damage Android’s ability to offer a secure user experience and compete with Apple.
It is up to Judge James Donato who will decide what the appropriate remedies might be, since we do not know what Epic has actually won yet. It never sued for monetary damages so it doesn’t know how the judge will rule on its request to give app developers total freedom to build their own stores and billing systems. Both parties will meet with Judge Donato in the second week of January to discuss potential remedies.
Judge Donato has already stated that he will not grant Epic’s additional request for an anti-circumvention provision “just to be sure Google can’t reintroduce the same problems through some alternative creative solution,” as Epic lead attorney Gary Bornstein put it on November 28th.
Although Epic didn’t sue for damages, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney suggested Epic stood to make hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars if it doesn’t have to pay Google’s fee.
The ruling came in a case first filed in 2020 by Epic Games, known for its blockbuster game Fortnite and tools for developers, and argued before a jury since early November. The jury deliberated for three hours before they reached their verdict. They had to decide whether or not to use product and geographic markets and if there was anticompetitive conduct in those areas.
Google had denied any wrongdoing, saying that its sole aim was to provide a safe and attractive experience to users, especially as it faced competition from Apple, its iPhone, and its App Store.
More bad news for Google could come in mid-2024 when US district judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, is expected to issue his ruling on whether Google has unlawfully maintained its monopoly over web search. The testimony in that case concluded last month and was brought by the US Department of Justice.
The trial went on without a judge making a decision on the fate of the case, and it tried to reverse course before jury selection even began.
There are 48,000 app developers and Google has settled with most of them, without making major changes to its business practices. A group of consumers and attorneys general were part of the settlement. Details of the latter settlement had not been published, pending the verdict in the Epic trial.