Get ready to shake the Android app store as a punishment
San Francisco – A federal judge on Wednesday indicated that he will order major changes to Google’s Android app store to punish the company for engineering a system that the court declared illegal and has harmed millions of consumers and developers. tools.
During a three-hour hearing in San Francisco, US District Judge James Donato made it clear that the next move he’s considering could include an order requiring the Google Play Store for Android phones to give consumers the option to download other resources. shops.
Donato has been evaluating how to beat Google since last December when the court declared the Play Store independent after a four-week trial. The ruling led to Google’s almost exclusive control over the distribution of apps designed for Android phones and the payment systems for digital transactions that take place within them – a system that generates billions of dollars in annual revenue for company.
In opposing the judge’s potential demands, Google has raised concerns that consumer devices have been infected by malicious software downloaded from third-party app stores, causing “security confusion.”
But Donato repeatedly spoke about the need for a major update of the Play Store, even if it would cause Google headaches and huge debts that the company estimated could reach $ 600 million, according to what the judge is ordered.
“We’re going to lower the barriers, it’s going to happen,” Donato told Google attorney Glenn Pomerantz. “When you build a mountain with bad behavior, you will have to remove that mountain.”
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Donato said he hopes to issue an order detailing the plan for changes to the Play Store within the next few weeks, possibly before Labor Day weekend.
Google’s tactics in the penalty phase of the Play Store case may foreshadow its strategy during similar so-called “remedial trials” to be held in a larger antitrust case that resulted in a judge mark the main search engine as illegal. monopoly, too. Those sales aimed at Google’s crown jewel are scheduled to begin on September 6 in Washington, DC.
In the case of the Play Store, Donato still seems to be struggling with how much time he should give Google to make changes to its Android system and the Play Store, and whether the restrictions he imposes should remain in place. How long does it work?
Google wants 12 to 16 months to make the changes to ensure a smooth transition and avoid glitches that could affect the performance of Android smartphones. Epic Games, the video game developer that filed the antitrust lawsuit that led to the Play Store being declared exclusive, says that Google can make everything in three months for a price of about $ 1 million.
Without revealing the timeline he has in mind, Donato indicated that he will not give Google as much time as it wants to make the necessary changes.
“Google tells me it will take a long time for all of this to happen, but I doubt it,” the judge said. “I doubt that all that brain power will solve these problems in less than 16 months.”
Epic Games wants whatever Donato ordered to remain in effect for six years, but the judge said Wednesday that he thought that offer was too long. He wondered aloud if a five-year term for his order would be more appropriate. Google wants the order to expire after a year or two.
Donato has assured Google that he will not try to run its business lightly, even as he seeks a major shake-up of the company.
“The whole point is to grow a garden of competitive hardware stores,” the judge said.
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