Posted on 12/12/2023 9:09:32 AM PST by george76
San Francisco jury finds that Google ‘maintained monopoly power by engaging in anticompetitive conduct’..
Google lost an antitrust case over the market power of its app store on Monday, a blow to the search giant as it faces other legal challenges to its search dominance and ad tech business..
Videogame maker Epic Games sued the search giant in 2020, alleging it used its dominant position to squeeze excess profits from app developers. The San Francisco jury reached a unanimous verdict after deliberating for less than four hours.
The loss comes as Google battles more antitrust challenges, including a landmark trial focusing on its dominant search engine. Epic’s lawsuit formed part of a broader campaign against the fees that Google and Apple charge mobile app developers.
“Today’s verdict is a win for all app developers and consumers around the world,” Epic, the maker of the popular game Fortnite, wrote in a blog post Monday after the verdict. “It proves that Google’s app store practices are illegal and they abuse their monopoly to extract exorbitant fees, stifle competition and reduce innovation.”
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U.S. District Judge James Donato will decide next year what remedies Epic will be awarded. The parties will reconvene in January.
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It is a big deal that a jury is saying, ‘Yes, Google has a monopoly and it has illegally maintained a monopoly,’” said Lee Hepner, a lawyer for the American Economic Liberties Project, an antimonopoly group. “A jury was readily able to call a spade a spade.”
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Epic’s case centered on Google’s dominant position in the market for apps on mobile devices running the company’s Android software, and the fees it charges for developers on its Play Store.
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The trial .. San Francisco jury provided a rare look into Google’s maneuverings in the Android software ecosystem
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
liberal people stabbed a liberal company, what fun.
Even internally, pushing DEI incurs some costs in inefficiency and stupid decisions, but nothing compared to the amount of loot that can be extorted from the "business" the woke bullcrap protects.
This is why so many companies have "embraced" DEI.
Kind of awesome. “Teacher, leave those kids alone!”
Good. Its a start. Its far from the biggest case against Google which as everybody knows IS a monopoly and DOES engage in anticompetitive practices, but its a start.
DEI is nothing but 21st century fascism.
What if 200 million of us filed a similar lawsuit against the feds for what Google got sued for, a monopoly. Never mind, we don’t have standing.../s
Yup - it's the latest incarnation of corporate fascism without the pretense of worker's interests being protected-- they only have to protect the interests of a few, token women & minorities. This is much cheaper and they get to reap even larger profits while enjoying the protection of monopolies, tax breaks, and subsidies from the state.
Google searches just turn up ads now. And loads of non-sequitur garbage. There’s nothing like searching for a Triumph motorcycle part and getting 2 pages of automobile parts suppliers.
Plus a couple of you tubers have proven that Google and Apple are listening to your phones all the time. Talk about a product with a smartphone nearby and soon you will get ads related to your conversation.
—”Google which as everybody knows IS a monopoly and DOES engage in anticompetitive practices, but its a start.”
On my kitchen countertop is a monument to the greed of google.
A Lenovo Smart Display 10 w/Google assistant, is(WAS) a most useful toy.
Search/find read-back recipes, play music, videos, weather news... all hands-free.
Now it will do some recipes, and youtube but mostly says “CAN’T BE SHOWN- WEBSITES ARE TURNED OFF FOR THIS DEVICE
CAN SEND THE LINK TO YOUR PHONE...”
Google was caught poaching software used in this device and now most functions are greyed out.
Supposedly it can be updated.
I have followed the instructions with ZERO results.
Google no longer provides software updates for these third-party Smart Displays...
And the horse google rode in on.
Google got Senator Mike Lee re-elected in Utah, at the very least. This is dangerous.
Epic Games is right down the road from me. If you didn’t know what it was, you’d think it was maybe a little machine shop or something. There is definitely nothing EPIC about their shop.
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