The Verge: Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in Android app store

[Yurinka]

"The jury unanimously answered yes to every question put before them — that Google has monopoly power in the Android app distribution markets and in-app billing services markets, that Google did anticompetitive things in those markets, and that Epic was injured by that behavior. They decided Google has an illegal tie between its Google Play app store and its Google Play Billing payment services, too, and that its distribution agreement, Project Hug deals with game developers and deals with OEMs were anticompetitive too."

Google can, and pretty likely will, appeal.

https://www.theverge.com/23994174/epic-google-trial-jury-verdict-monopoly-google-play

P.S.: Pretty likely this may mean we'll see Epic, Microsoft and Sony (+possibly more) stores in Android "soonish", where they won't have to pay any revenue cut there in exchange of handling themselves their stores, transactions, customer support, certification, etc.

 

[ethomaz]

After they talk heavy loses against Apple few year ago they can finally commemorate a victory

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

And now I'm worried what it means for consoles. You know Tim is going to fight Sony and MS next and MS will welcome him with open arms leaving only Sony as the "bad guy"

 

[ethomaz]

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

Seems like Apple lawyers were better than Google ones.
There are some funny memes on Apple’s lawyers making Epic’s layers looks like amateurs.

But to be fair the cases are too different… iOS is a closed system while Android is a open system.

That makes Epic’s arguments stronger against Google but weak against Apple, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, etc.

 

[AshHunter216]

I've reached my limit for following court cases.

 

[Entropi]

That thread title lol (verga translate to dick in Spanish)

 

[Neversummer]

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

And now I'm worried what it means for consoles. You know Tim is going to fight Sony and MS next and MS will welcome him with open arms leaving only Sony as the "bad guy" d

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

And now I'm worried what it means for consoles. You know Tim is going to fight Sony and MS next and MS will welcome him with open arms leaving only Sony as the "bad guy"

Sony & Nintendo would fight that. It’s weird that regulators would allow the ability of one competitor opening there own storefront inside someone else storefront that’s like going to a target store & inside that target store you also had Walmart. Also would that allow a competitor to undermine smaller store front MS is worth 2.5 trillion couldn’t they just undermine Sony entire storefront essentially killing competition & innovation this feels like when Amazon/Walmart undermined all of the mom & pop shops by racing to the bottom

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

And now I'm worried what it means for consoles. You know Tim is going to fight Sony and MS next and MS will welcome him with open arms leaving only Sony as the "bad guy"

Apple manufacture their own phones (iPhones) from concept to production, which includes billions in R&D. They make the OS as well. It's a tightly vertically integrated stack of software & hardware.

So they are probably arguing that the ecosystem control they exert is necessary for purposes of subsidization, which might be true for the phones that are sold to carriers for subscribers to get in their plans. But the phones they sell directly? Those are sold for massive profit margins, so the subsidization argument doesn't quite hold up.

Then again, Nintendo sell their systems for profit margins right from launch. Their systems (and Sony's and Microsoft's for that matter) can fall back on the excuse of being purpose-built luxury gaming devices, that don't even have to be owned in order to access games (and where gaming isn't a requirement to live a normal, modern life in society).

 

[flaccidsnake]

Seems like Apple lawyers were better than Google ones.
There are some funny memes on Apple’s lawyers making Epic’s layers looks like amateurs.

But to be fair the cases are too different… iOS is a closed system while Android is a open system.

That makes Epic’s arguments stronger against Google but weak against Apple, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, etc.

"open/closed system" is not a legal distinction you're talking pure shit here.

If iOS is a "closed system", that's *more* of a monopoly.

 

[Vertigo]

The verga…

 

[Dr Bass]

The verga…

Verga? lol

Oh I see the title now.

Apple won but Google lost. It makes no sense.

And now I'm worried what it means for consoles. You know Tim is going to fight Sony and MS next and MS will welcome him with open arms leaving only Sony as the "bad guy"

It makes perfect sense. Apple should have easily lost, and the judge had no clue. Very similarly to the ABK case.

Epic won't come after the consoles. They are toys, not our modern general purpose computers that life practically depends on.

 

[Would_you_kindly]

 

[KnittedKnight]

Interesting.... may have to analyze this later on.

 

[Zeno]

I don’t see this verdict stand to an appeal.
Google’s shady deals seemed to be the reason mostly to why they lost.
We have to see what remedies there are to this decision.

 

[Zzero]

I don’t see this verdict stand to an appeal.
Google’s shady deals seemed to be the reason mostly to why they lost.
We have to see what remedies there are to this decision.

Honestly, Epic probably has a much better case here than against Apple and its down to Google's signing financial agreements with phone companies to prevent them from pre-loading other stores. I don't see them, necessarily, being forced to put Epic's shit on their store for free but then end of "Project Hug" or whatever its called is probably inevitable now.

 

[Satoru]

If this is not proof of how much more insidious and dangerous apple is, I don't know what is. Theyl amount of bribing going that way must be amazing.

How can the open system be a monopoly but the closed system not be?

 

[Satoru]

But to be fair the cases are too different… iOS is a closed system while Android is a open system.

That makes Epic’s arguments stronger against Google but weak against Apple, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, etc.

That makes no sense. Apple doesn't even allow 3rd party stores, while Google does.

 

[anonpuffs]

That makes no sense. Apple doesn't even allow 3rd party stores, while Google does.

I think it's the fact that Apple only does that on its own hardware. Google was making deals to shut out competition on all android devices, not just their own.

 

[Satoru]

I think it's the fact that Apple only does that on its own hardware. Google was making deals to shut out competition on all android devices, not just their own.

The same can be said about console exclusives then.

 

[BloodMod]

Verga? lol

Oh I see the title now.

Title more family friendly now.