Judge puts Google Play monopoly changes set for November on hold

Google will no longer have to make a series of Play Store changes by November 1 in response to losing the Epic lawsuit after the original judge granted a “temporary administrative stay.” 

As The Verge reports, this pause is meant to allow a higher court to grant Google’s request for a longer stay that should be in place until the appeals process plays out, which could last a few years. The District Judge that decided on the changes believes the appeals court will grant that request, which was filed earlier this week.

Google shared the following statement on this pause:

We’re pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal. These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms.

—Google spokesperson

Epic had the following response this afternoon:

Today the Court made it clear that Google’s appeal is meritless and rejected their request to delay opening up Android devices to competition while the appeal is ongoing. Google continues to use fearmongering and unsubstantiated security threats to protect their control over Android devices and continue extracting exorbitant fees. The pause in the injunction is merely a procedural step to allow the Ninth Circuit time to decide Google’s request to stay the injunction pending appeal.

Originally, Google would have had until November 1 to implement some big changes to the Play Store, like allowing other in-app payment methods (Google Play Billing could no longer be required) and letting developers “link to download the app outside the Google Play Store,” as well communicate app availability/pricing. Microsoft was planning to make use of the changes.

Additionally, Google, with OEMs and other partners, could:

• “…not condition a payment, revenue share, or access to any Google product or service, on an agreement by an app developer not to launch on a third-party Android app distribution platform or store a version of an app that includes features not available in, or is otherwise different from, the version of the app offered on the Google Play Store.”
• “…not condition a payment, revenue share, or access to any Google product or service, on an agreement by an app developer to launch an app first or exclusively in the Google Play Store.”
• “…not condition a payment, revenue share, or access to any Google product or service, on an agreement with an OEM or carrier not to preinstall an Android app distribution platform or store other than the Google Play Store.”
• “…not condition a payment, revenue share, or access to any Google product or service, on an agreement with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or carrier to preinstall the Google Play Store on any specific location on an Android device.”
• “…not share revenue generated by the Google Play Store with any person or entity that distributes Android apps, or has stated that it will launch or is considering launching an Android app distribution platform or store.”

Meanwhile, this will also put on hold the mandate that requires Google to distribute third-party app stores and give them access to the Play Store catalog. Google has eight months to make those changes.