Google Appeals $5 Billion EU Fine In Android Case (wsj.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Alphabet's Google on Tuesday said it filed an appeal of the European Union's $4.97 billion antitrust fine (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) for allegedly abusing the dominance of its Android operating system for mobile phones. But Google said it has no plans to ask for so-called interim measures to pause application of the decision. Without further action, Google will have to meet a deadline at the end of October to end the behavior the EU says is anticompetitive or face additional fines of up to 5% of average daily global revenue for each day it doesn't comply. Google had promised that it would appeal the decision when the European Commission, the bloc's antitrust regulator, delivered it in mid-July. The commission said that Google broke the block's competition laws in part by strong-arming phone makers that use its free Android operating system to pre-install its namesake search engine, from which the company makes the bulk of its advertising revenue.

In the Android case, the European Commission has ordered Google to stop making phone manufacturers pre-install its search app and the Chrome web browser if they want to pre-install Google's Play store, which is the main way to download Android apps. The bloc also ordered Google to end restrictions that discourage manufacturers from selling devices that run unofficial versions of Android. It contends both restrictions illegally constrained competing search engines and operating systems. Google has argued that Android, which is free for manufacturers to use, has increased competition among smartphone makers, lowering prices for consumers. The company has said the allegation that it stymied competing apps is false because manufacturers typically install many rival apps on Android devices, and consumers can easily download others.

Comments

Re:M% anti trust case

[Calydor]

It is not Microsoft's fault that no computer maker offers a Linux-ready machine, at least not that I've heard rumors of.

Google, on the other hand, specifically tells companies to install this, this and this if they want access to the main feature of the 'free' OS.

Re:How exctly?

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon created Fire Phones. In China, there are lots of different Android app stores, so no Play Store is needed. Android (AOSP) is free for manufacturers to use, but in order to use the Android trademark they need to comply with Google's conditions, which include pre-installing certain apps.

Re:Additional requirements when the system is free

[lexman098]

What are you talking about? Google services including the Play Store are not at all open source. The EU has no problem with Android (misleading headline). You must be trolling if you think Microsoft has never been bothered by the EU over antitrust suits related to bundling web browsers.

Re:How exctly?

[swillden]

Manufacturers can install their own app stores, and many do, but they need the Play Store or it's not Android and doesn't get updates from Google.

This isn't correct.

Any device that passes the Android Compliance Test Suite (CTS) and complies with the Compliance Definition Document (CDD) is "Android". Also, all Google updates go into AOSP, into both the master branch and backported into the relevant dessert release branches. This is true for all devices that use AOSP, whether CTS/CDD compliant or not.

In order to put the Play Store on their device, device makers have to pass an additional test suite (GTS) and comply with additional contractual agreements, which currently includes the pre-installation of Google apps. That's highly desirable because the Play Store is really important to consumers, but it is not necessary for a device to be "Android", nor to get updates.