A federal judge in California has approved Google’s request to temporarily suspend his order requiring the company to overhaul its Android app store, Play, by November 1, to enhance consumer choice in software downloads.
U.S. District Judge James Donato, based in San Francisco, made this decision on Friday as part of an antitrust lawsuit filed against Google by Epic Games, the creator of “Fortnite.”
Google contended that Donato’s October 7 injunction would negatively impact the company and pose “serious safety, security, and privacy risks” to the Android ecosystem.
In a separate matter, Philip Morris announced on Friday that the companies involved would pay $23.6 billion to settle a longstanding lawsuit.
Judge Donato postponed the injunction to give the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals time to review Google’s request to pause the judge’s order.
However, he rejected Google’s request to delay the order while the broader appeal is being considered.
“We’re pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of the dangerous remedies demanded by Epic while the Court of Appeal reviews our request for a further pause during our appeal,” Google stated.
In response, Epic described Donato’s ruling as a procedural step and asserted that the court indicated Google’s appeal lacks merit.
They criticized Google for allegedly using “fearmongering and unsubstantiated security threats” to maintain control over Android devices and to continue charging high fees.
In the Epic Games lawsuit, a jury determined last year that Google had illegally monopolized the process by which consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.
In his order, the judge incorporated many of the measures proposed by Epic based on the jury’s findings.
The order mandated that Google permit users to download alternative third-party Android app platforms or stores in Play and to accept competing in-app payment methods.
It also prohibited Google from financially incentivizing device manufacturers to preinstall its app store and from sharing revenue generated through the Play Store with other app distributors.
Google has already filed an appeal against the jury’s antitrust verdicts to the 9th Circuit.
However, Google has yet to present its antitrust arguments to the appeals court.
The company has previously claimed it cannot be classified as a monopolist since Play competes directly with Apple’s App Store, and that Donato’s injunction would unconstitutionally compel Google to conduct business with its rivals.
