Epic Games is waging legal war against Apple and Google for what it calls the 30% excess revenue these companies make on every app and app purchase. Indeed, every developer finds themselves paying the piper for the privilege of using what may be the only practical commercial platforms of Android and iOS, but they usually do not have the means to submit a pack. Now, however, one law firm is trying to clear up the grief with alleged legal action for class action against Google.
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a Seattle-based practice specializing in class actions, has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in San Jose against Google for establishing an effective Android app store monopoly – discouraging and harassing app stores without obfuscation measures such as alarming instructions from Google Play Protect – and include anti-competitive practices such as the 30% split and a product price minimum of 99 cents.
Unlike the Epic lawsuit, Hagens Berman is seeking monetary damages. Developers can sign up to be part of the class with this form, but a judge will have to green light this charge before things really start to roll. You can read the full complaint here.
In 2018, Aptoide snapped up an introduction to force Google to stop Play Protect from tracking and deleting its third-party app store, so there’s some legal precedent here. That, however, was in a Portuguese court – it will be another mess at the battle at stateide.
- Source:
- Hagens Berman (1),
- (2)
