The anticipated lawsuit follows complaints from app
developers about Google's management of its Play Store for Android devices,
according to one source. The lawsuit has been in the works since last year and
has already been delayed, but seems close again, the sources said.
The investigation by the state attorneys general is being
led by Utah, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New York. It is unclear how many
states will participate.
Two sources said the case is likely to be filed in federal
court in Northern California, where related cases are being heard. These
include a lawsuit that video game maker Epic Games filed against Google last
year, accusing it of having anticompetitive app store rules. It is expected to
go to trial in 2022.
There also are two proposed class-action lawsuits over the
Play store before the same judge. If the states want to participate in
depositions and other pre-trial activities, they would have to file fairly
soon, one source said.
Apple and Epic are awaiting the verdict in a similar
California lawsuit after a trial that ended last month.
A Google spokesperson defended their app store as open.
"Android is the only major operating system that allows
people to download apps from multiple app stores. In fact, most Android devices
ship with two or more app stores preinstalled. They can also install additional
app stores or apps directly from their browser if they choose," the
spokesperson said.
Google was originally seen as more open in how it ran its
app store than Apple but has tightened rules recently and increased enforcement
of those rules.
The lawsuit is expected to focus on Google's requirement
that some apps use the company's payment tools to sell subscriptions and content
and pay Google as much as 30 percent of sales, according to two sources.
App makers like music streaming service Spotify and dating
services giant Match Group, which owns the Tinder app, have long accused both
Google, as well as Apple, of being anti-competitive in demanding mandatory
revenue sharing.
This latest lawsuit is being planned at a time of unusually
vigorous debate over whether federal antitrust enforcement is too lax. Many
people, including Senator Amy Klobuchar who chairs the Senate Judiciary
Committee's antitrust panel, have pressed for tougher enforcement.
Google already faces a federal lawsuit brought by the
Justice Department last year and related antitrust cases brought by two
separate groups of attorneys general. One is led by Texas and focused on
advertising while the other targets Google's alleged efforts to extend its
dominance in search to newer markets, like voice assistants.
© Reuters
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