Google accepts request to end “dangerous remedies” on Play Store in Epic Games strike

Google said Friday that a federal judge in California granted its request to suspend its order directing the Alphabet unit to overhaul its Android Play app store by Nov. 1 to give consumers more choices about how they download the software.

San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge James Donato made the ruling Friday as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Google brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games. Google argued that Donato’s Oct. 7 order would harm the company and introduce “serious safety, security and privacy risks to the Android ecosystem.”

Donato delayed the order to allow the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco to consider Google’s separate request to stay the judge’s order. Donato denied Google’s separate request to stay the order pending its broader appeal in the case.

“We are pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily stay the dangerousness remedies requested by Epic as the Court of Appeals considers our request to further stay the remedies while we appeal,” Google said in a statement. statement.

Epic declined to comment on Donato’s order.

In the Epic Games lawsuit, a jury last year found that Google unlawfully monopolized how consumers download apps to Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.

The judge, in his order, embraced many of the steps recommended by Epic in light of the jury’s decision.

The order requires Google to allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or Play stores and to allow the use of competing in-app payment methods.

It also banned Google from making payments to device manufacturers to pre-install the app store and sharing revenue generated by the Play Store with other app distributors.

Google has already appealed the jury’s antitrust findings to the 9th Circuit. Google has not yet presented its antitrust arguments to the appeals court.

It has previously said it cannot be considered a monopolist because Apple’s Play and App Store are direct competitors and that Donato’s order would illegally force Google to do business with rivals.