Judge weighs proposed changes to Google’s Android app store to prevent anticompetitive tactics

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is tried to confront the latest in a succession of legal attacks on its digital empire on Thursday as federal judge began to address anticompetitive practices in the app market for smartphones powered by its Android software. The San Francisco court hearing before U.S. District Judge James Donato comes five months after a nine-person jury decided Google had turned its Play Store for Android phone apps into an illegal monopoly following a four-week trial in an antitrust case brought by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. At the start of the hearing, Donato told lawyers for both parties not to revisit the jury’s verdict, which is now “carved in stone.” He also said that the case is about “competing generally,” and he is “not looking for a relief that gives a helping hand just to Epic.” The verdict has given Epic a chance to persuade Donato to impose sweeping restrictions and other changes on how Google manages the distribution of Android apps. Under Epic’s key proposals, Google would be required to make all Android apps in the Play Store available to competing stores — and also distribute rival app stores directly to consumers who want to download them. At the hearing, Donato appeared skeptical of this argument, saying that while Google seems to be assuming “without any evidence” a dark, dystopian future if Epic gets its way, “there is an equally reasonable probability that it will be the best thing that has ever happened, so it is a value-neutral choice.” To Google’s arguments that rival, unscrupulous app stores could compromise consumer privacy, Donato said the tech giant doesn’t have data to support it — and asked if it’s “in any way different than what Google already does?” While Google is predicting a “terrifying world of chaos and anarchy” if Epic’s proposals are implemented, Donato said, “I just don’t buy it.” This, he said, is the consequence of breaking antitrust laws.