Google appeals $5 billion EU fine in Android antitrust case

FAN Editor

Google has appealed a record $5 billion antitrust fine by European Union authorities, who say the tech giant abused the dominance of its Android operating system to stifle competitors.

A spokesman for the company, Al Verney, confirmed Wednesday that the company has filed its legal challenge with the General Court of the EU, the bloc’s second highest court.

The EU’s executive Commission issued the fine in July after it found Google forced smartphone makers using Android to install the company’s search and browser apps. The company also paid big phone makers to exclusively pre-install the Google Search app. The bloc’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said at the time of the ruling that “companies must compete on their merits.”

Under the ruling, Google must take measures to fix the problem by the end of October or risk further fines.

“The Commission will defend its decision in Court,” a Commission spokesperson said in a statement.

Google, which had said it would appeal, argued that its free, open-source operating system has led to lower-price phones and stoked competition with its chief rival, Apple. The company filed its appeal Tuesday just as it was unveiling its latest generation of Pixel smartphones, which undercut iPhones on price.

Android is the most widely used mobile operating system, beating even Apple’s iOS. The fine, which follows a three-year investigation, is the biggest ever imposed by the EU on a company for anticompetitive behavior.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

2 killed, 2 wounded in shooting at Florida shopping center

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Authorities say two people are dead and two more have been wounded in a shooting at a shopping center in Florida. CBS affiliate WINK-TV reports that Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno says the Tuesday night shooting at the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers doesn’t appear […]