US court forces Google to open operating system to competitors

On July 31, a US federal court ruled that Google must open its Android operating system to rival app stores after the internet giant lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by video game developer Epic Games.

The ruling paves the way for Epic Games apps to operate inside the Google Play Store — Google's app store — without having to use Google's payment system, which charges transaction fees.

Judge Margaret McKeown of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the panel decided to uphold the original ruling of the California court.

A California court found that Google holds an illegal monopoly through its Play Store.

Google's head of legal affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, announced that the company will continue to appeal to the Supreme Court because the above ruling seriously harms user safety, limits choice and undermines innovation - the core element of the Android ecosystem.

From the user's perspective, the Internet rights advocacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argues that competition, not monopoly, is what keeps users safer.

According to EFF, Google and other tech giants are providing a “feudal” form of security, where users are completely dependent on ensuring their safety.

The EFF said the court's ruling would level the playing field for rival app stores on the Android operating system.

In addition to Google, Epic Games is also in a similar legal battle with Apple regarding the App Store. The legal battle broke out in 2021 when Epic Games' hit game Fortnite was banned from the App Store for deliberately avoiding Apple's payment system.

Apple is currently appealing some aspects of the ruling related to the lawsuit, although a judge concluded that the App Store is not allowed to have a monopoly./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/toa-an-my-buoc-google-phai-mo-he-dieu-hanh-cho-doi-thu-post1053113.vnp