Replace, October 18, 5PM ET: District Decide James Donato has granted an administrative keep. This successfully places Donato’s prior order, which was due to come into impact shortly, on pause till the ninth Circuit’s resolves Google’s keep movement. In a press release given to Engadget, a Google spokesperson stated:
“We’re pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal. These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms.”
The original story follows.
Google has formally filed a motion [PDF] asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to put a pause on the order that forces the company to open the Play store to competitors. If you’ll recall, Google lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games after a federal jury found that the company held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Earlier this month, US District Judge James Donato ordered Google to allow third-party app stores access to the Google Play app catalog and to make those stores downloadable from its storefront. Now, Google is asking the court for a stay on that order while it’s appealing the Epic antitrust lawsuit decision, saying that it will expose 100 million Android users in the US to “substantial new safety dangers.”
The company called the order “dangerous and unwarranted” and said that if it’s allowed to stand, it will threaten Google’s ability to “present a secure and trusted used expertise.” It argued that if it makes third-party app stores available for download from Google Play, people might think that the company is vouching for them, which could raise “actual dangers for [its] customers.” Those app stores could have “much less rigorous protections,” Google explained, that could expose users to harmful and malicious apps.
It also said that giving third-party stores access to the Play catalog could harm businesses that don’t want their products available alongside inappropriate or malicious content. Giving third-party stores access to its entire library could give “bad-intentioned” stores a “veneer of legitimacy.” Moreover, it argued that allowing developers to link out from their apps “creates vital danger of misleading hyperlinks,” since bad actors could use the feature for phishing attacks to compromise users’ devices and steal their data.
One of court’s main proposed changes is to allow developers to remove Google Play billing as an option, allowing them to offer their apps to Android users without having to pay the company a commission. However, Google said that by allowing developers to remove its billing system, it could “power an choice that will not have the safeguards and options that customers anticipate.”
In its filing, Google emphasized that the three weeks the court gave it to make these sweeping changes is too short for a “Herculean activity.” It creates an “unacceptable danger of security” that could lead to major issues affecting the functionality of users’ Android devices, it said. The company also questioned why the court sided with Epic in its antitrust lawsuit, whereas it sided with Apple in a similar case also filed by the video game company. “It’s pause-inducing that Apple, which requires all apps undergo its proprietary App Retailer, just isn’t a monopolist, however Google — which constructed alternative into the Android working system so system makers can preinstall and customers can obtain competing app shops — was condemned for monopolization.”
Epic Games provided Engadget with the following statement: “The jury’s verdict and the courtroom’s injunction had been clear: Google’s anticompetitive Play Retailer practices are unlawful. Google is merely worry mongering and falsely utilizing safety as a pretext to delay the modifications mandated by the courtroom. That is Google’s final ditch effort to shield their management over Android and proceed extracting exorbitant charges. The courtroom’s injunction should go into impact swiftly so builders and customers can profit from competitors in the cellular ecosystem.”
