A federal judge plans to order significant changes to Google’s Android app store after a jury found the company guilty of creating an illegal monopoly that harmed millions of consumers and app developers.
During a three-hour hearing in San Francisco on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge James Donato indicated that he is likely to require Google’s Play Store to offer consumers the option to download apps from alternative app stores, as part of a major overhaul of the system. The judge has been considering how to penalize Google since last December when a jury concluded that the Play Store operates as a monopoly following a four-week trial.
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The jury’s verdict focused on Google’s near-total control over the distribution of apps for Android phones and the billing systems for digital transactions within those apps. This system generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for Google.
Google has argued against the judge’s potential changes, warning that allowing third-party app stores could expose consumers to harmful software, creating “security chaos.” Despite this, Judge Donato emphasized the need for a significant overhaul of the Play Store, even if it causes Google substantial challenges and costs, which the company estimates could reach $600 million.
“We are going to tear the barriers down, that is going to happen,” Judge Donato told Google’s attorney, Glenn Pomerantz.“When you have a mountain built out of bad conduct, you are going to have to move that mountain.”
Judge Donato intends to issue an order detailing the changes to the Play Store in the coming weeks. Google’s approach in this penalty phase may hint at its strategy for another major antitrust case, where the company’s search engine has been labeled an illegal monopoly. Hearings for that case are scheduled to begin on September 6 in Washington, D.C.
In the Play Store case, Judge Donato is still deciding how much time Google should have to implement the changes to its Android operating system and Play Store, as well as how long the imposed restrictions should last. Google is asking for 12 to 16 months to ensure a smooth transition and avoid potential disruptions to Android smartphones.
However, Epic Games, the video game company that filed the antitrust lawsuit leading to the monopoly ruling, argues that Google could complete the changes in about three months at a cost of around $1 million.
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