A federal judge on Monday ordered Google to pry open its Android app store to competition, continuing a wave of challenges to the power of Google and other U.S. technology giants.
U.S. District Judge James Donato largely sided with Epic Games, creator of the Fortnite video games, which won a jury verdict last year that found that the Google Play app store operated as an illegal monopoly.
As punishment, Epic had asked Donato to mandate unprecedented changes that would let businesses largely bypass Google’s app store to distribute their Android apps and collect customers’ digital purchases from apps. Donato’s order Monday granted some but not all of the changes that Epic asked for.
It’s not clear how Donato’s order will be implemented or whether it will survive Google’s expected appeal. But the judge’s decision has the potential to transform Android phones into the world’s leading laboratory for how technology might change if it were less controlled by Silicon Valley titans.
Donato’s order is among the legal and regulatory changes around the world that are chipping away at 15 years of smartphone app control by Google and Apple. Together, these challenges could spark a boom of fresh ideas in apps, through which people make an estimated $170 billion in yearly purchases, and drain profitable income from Google and Apple.
For Google, Donato’s legal order is also the latest antitrust hit that could reshape the company.
Another federal judge recently ruled that Google’s lucrative web search business broke anti-monopoly laws. The judge has said he intends to decide by next summer on consequences, which could include a breakup of Google.
The company has said it will appeal that decision.
Google is also fighting another antitrust lawsuit led by government officials that accuses the company of quashing competition in online advertising.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.