US judge grants Google request to put Play store overhaul on temporary hold

Source: Reuters

October 18, 2024 5:20 PM EDT Updated 12 hours ago


Oct 18 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California has granted Google's request to temporarily pause his order directing the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit to overhaul its Android app store Play by Nov. 1 to give consumers more choice over how they download software.

San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge James Donato made the decision on Friday as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Google by "Fortnite" maker Epic Games. Google argued that Donato's Oct. 7 injunction would harm the company and introduce "serious safety, security and privacy risks into the Android ecosystem."

Donato delayed the injunction to allow the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider Google's separate request to pause the judge's order. Donato denied Google's separate request to pause the order for the duration of its broader appeal in the case.

"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," Google said in a statement. Epic in a statement called Donato's ruling a procedural step, and said 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."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-grants-google-request-put-play-store-overhaul-temporary-hold-2024-10-18/