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Google CEO Sundar Pichai will testify in a legal battle against Epic. The Fortnite maker plans to call Pichai as a witness with an aim to prove that Google Play enjoys an ‘illegal monopoly’ in the Android app market. Pichai, who will testify on Tuesday (November 14), will defend Google Play app store policies.
Epic sued the Alphabet-owned company in 2020 claiming that its app store’s distribution, payment and fee policies hurt developers.This will be Pichai’s second testimony in a month. Previously, he appeared in a case wherein the company is alleged to have thwarted competition by paying to keep Search prominently on phones and browsers.
Pichai could be questioned for up to an hour and as per a report by The Verge, Google has requested to use a podium in the courtroom, suggesting that Pichai may indeed appear to testify.
Pichai will make a case on how Google Play policies and business practices are justified, how they promote competition, and on how Epic breached its contract when it set up its own app store as a workaround to the Google Play billing system.
What’s the case
Epic has alleged that Google has blocked rivals from competing with its marketplace and payment system by paying them off not to set up their own app stores to directly deal with users. The Fortnite maker also claims that Google struck deals with phone makers like Samsung to display Google Play prominently on mobile device home screens.
Meanwhile, Google claims that the company’s actions are legitimate as it allows it to compete with Apple’s App Store as well as the Samsung Galaxy Store and Amazon Appstore. Google also offered a $147 million deal to the game developer to launch its popular game Fortnite on Google Play store.
Epic sued the Alphabet-owned company in 2020 claiming that its app store’s distribution, payment and fee policies hurt developers.This will be Pichai’s second testimony in a month. Previously, he appeared in a case wherein the company is alleged to have thwarted competition by paying to keep Search prominently on phones and browsers.
Pichai could be questioned for up to an hour and as per a report by The Verge, Google has requested to use a podium in the courtroom, suggesting that Pichai may indeed appear to testify.
Pichai will make a case on how Google Play policies and business practices are justified, how they promote competition, and on how Epic breached its contract when it set up its own app store as a workaround to the Google Play billing system.
What’s the case
Epic has alleged that Google has blocked rivals from competing with its marketplace and payment system by paying them off not to set up their own app stores to directly deal with users. The Fortnite maker also claims that Google struck deals with phone makers like Samsung to display Google Play prominently on mobile device home screens.
Meanwhile, Google claims that the company’s actions are legitimate as it allows it to compete with Apple’s App Store as well as the Samsung Galaxy Store and Amazon Appstore. Google also offered a $147 million deal to the game developer to launch its popular game Fortnite on Google Play store.
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