Do you think a judge will make Google allow an Android version of the Epic Games Store to live inside its own Google Play Store, let the Epic Games Store have access to every app inside Google Play, and let Android users begin sideloading apps with a single tap? Because Epic’s asking for those and a whole lot more in the aftermath of Epic v. Google.
On December 11th, Epic won a surprise victory against Google in federal court. A jury unanimously decided that Google had turned its Google Play app store and Google Play Billing service into an illegal monopoly. But what did Epic win? That’s yet to be decided by Judge James Donato, and today, we’re finally learning precisely what Epic believes it should get.
As you’ll see in the 16-page proposed injunction and my bullet points below, Epic’s asking for a lot — it doesn’t just want to block Google from most every kind of potentially unfair behavior it highlighted during the trial but also proactively and instantly put third-party app stores and billing systems on the same footing with Google Play and Google Play Billing in one fell swoop.
Even if you might think that fair, it’s unlikely a judge will go that far. Today’s Epic document is just the starting point in a negotiation — Google gets to file its response by May 2nd, and then Judge Donato will hear from experts on both sides at a hearing on May 23rd. And Google will appeal, too, when the district court case is all said and done.
Okay, here’s the document, following my rough summary of what Epic’s asking for.
What Epic wants from Google:
That’s broad strokes; here are the specifics.
See you on May 23rd, I suppose!
