A federal judge on Friday delayed an order requiring Google to open its Android app store to more competition until an appeals court decides whether to block the change because of legal questions surrounding a jury ruling that described Google as an illegal monopoly.
The delay granted during a court hearing in San Francisco comes less than two weeks after US District Judge James Donato issued a decision that will force Google to make sweeping changes to the Play Store for Android smartphones starting on November 1.
The mandatory changes included a provision that would have required Google to make its library of more than two million Android apps available to any competitor that wanted access to the stock as well as distribute alternative options in its Play Store.
Google asked to put Donato’s order on hold so the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals can examine the handling of a month-long trial that led to the December 2023 ruling, which classified the Play Store as an illegal monopoly that stifles innovation and drives up consumer prices.
At Friday’s hearing, Donato scoffed at the idea that Google might succeed in overturning the trial ruling. “The ruling in this case was supported by a large amount of evidence about Google’s anti-competitive behavior,” the judge said.
But he decided that the Ninth Circuit should be given a chance to consider a delay so that a panel of judges can decide whether to consider Google’s appeal of a 2023 trial focusing on antitrust claims brought by video game company Epic Games.
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Donato said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Ninth Circuit imposed a longer delay on his ruling, “but that’s for someone else to decide.”
Google said in a statement that it was happy Donato hit the pause button while he tried to extend the delay even further. “These solutions threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience, and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect the 100 million Android users in the US, the more than 500,000 US developers and thousands of partners who have leveraged our platforms,” Google said. .
Epic declined to comment.
It’s unclear how long it will take the Ninth Circuit to decide on Google’s request to permanently stay Donato’s ruling while the appeal proceeds — a process that could take more than a year.
In 2021, the Ninth Circuit delayed a provision in another federal judge’s order that Apple should allow links to alternative payment systems with apps designed for the iPhone as part of another antitrust case brought by Epic.
Although Apple avoided being labeled an illegal monopolist in a trial involving the iPhone App Store, it unsuccessfully fought a clause requiring the company to allow alternative payment links within apps. But delaying this requirement maintained Apple’s exclusive control over the payment system, generating commissions ranging from 15% to 30% on some e-commerce conducted within apps. Apple exhausted its avenues of appeal to the US Supreme Court earlier this year.
Google also makes billions of dollars annually from a similar commission system within its Play Store for Android phones — a setup that is allowed to continue as long as Google can prevent the Donato ruling from taking effect.
In its arguments for delaying Donato’s order, Google said it was not given enough time to make the radical changes, which it framed as “an arduous task that creates an unacceptable risk of safety and security failure within the Android ecosystem.”
Google also said the change would burden it with unreasonable costs, a claim that Donato also brushed aside during Friday’s hearing.
“I don’t want to be too flippant about this, but it seems like the expenses Google might incur are a drop in the bucket compared to the profits it makes annually from the Play Store,” Donato said.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
