Google\u2019s Android app store is an illegal monopoly<\/a> \u2014 and now it will have to change. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Today, Judge James Donato issued his final ruling in Epic v. Google<\/em><\/a>, ordering Google to effectively open up the Google Play app store to competition for three whole years. Google will have to distribute rival third-party app stores within <\/em>Google Play, and it must give rival third-party app stores access to the full catalog of Google Play apps, unless developers opt out individually. These were Epic\u2019s biggest asks<\/a>, and they\u2019re not all that Epic has won today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Starting November 1st, 2024, and ending November 1st, 2027, Google must also:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Google will still have some control over safety and security as it opens up the Google Play Store to rival stores. The injunction says that Google can \u201ctake reasonable measures\u201d that are \u201cstrictly necessary and narrowly tailored\u201d and are \u201ccomparable\u201d to how it currently polices the Google Play Store. Google will be able to charge a fee for that policing, too. Epic has repeatedly argued that Google should not be able to deter third-party app stores through policing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Judge Donato is giving Google eight months from now to come up with a system, with a three-person Technical Committee jointly chosen by Epic and Google reviewing any disputes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Epic didn\u2019t get quite everything it asked for: it wanted the judge to crack open Google Play for six years, not three, allow users to sideload apps with a single tap, and for Google to stop being able to tie Android APIs to Google Play. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why not six years? \u201cThe provisions are designed to level the playing field for the entry and growth of rivals, without burdening Google excessively,\u201d writes Donato. \u201cAs competition comes into play and the network effects that Google Play unfairly enjoys are abated, Google should not be unduly constrained as a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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