A US federal appeals court has upheld a previous jury verdict that found Google’s app store and payments system to be illegal monopolies, furthering Epic Games’ antitrust case against the tech giant.

Epic Games, based in North Carolina, develops the popular game Fortnite and operates the Epic Games Store.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s 2023 decision, denying Google’s request to overturn the ruling.

This move lifts a stay on a permanent injunction that could force Google to allow rival app stores and payment systems on the Android platform for three years.

Google plans to appeal to the Supreme Court but may need to comply with the injunction in the meantime.

The decision would require Google to distribute competing app stores within Google Play, allow access to its app catalog, and prohibit certain practices, such as mandating Google Play Billing.

Google said the ruling could harm user safety and limit choice, and that it will continue to appeal.

🔗 Source: The Verge

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Business model differences create vastly different antitrust outcomes

Epic’s contrasting legal results against Google and Apple demonstrate how platform architecture shapes antitrust liability, even when both companies charge similar fees.

Epic won a unanimous jury verdict against Google but largely lost against Apple, despite both companies taking roughly 30% cuts from app purchases1.

The Ninth Circuit recognized that Google’s “open distribution” model creates different competitive dynamics than Apple’s “walled garden” approach, noting that Google licenses Android to multiple manufacturers while Apple controls both hardware and software[Original article].

This architectural difference proved legally significant because Google’s openness created expectations of genuine competition that its behind-the-scenes deals with manufacturers and developers allegedly undermined.

The jury saw internal Google emails showing executives worried about Epic convincing other developers to create rival app stores, suggesting Google actively worked to prevent the competition its open platform theoretically enabled[Original article].

2️⃣ Successful enforcement against Big Tech remains exceptionally rare despite widespread investigations