Google asked the Supreme Court this week to lift a lower court injunction it says poses a danger to security and business practices for its Play Store.
The clash was brought by Epic Games, the creator of “Fortnite.”
Google complained that the injunction was not just limited to Epic Games, a multibillion-dollar company that argued that the search giant, which removed it from its app store, violated the Sherman Act, which outlaws monopolization and aims to promote competition.
Google counters that Epic Games didn’t pay the required service fee.
A lower court sided with Epic Games, ruling that Google must act as a distributor of apps and make them available through competitor stores.
According to Google’s legal filing, the developers could also send users to outside links that could take them to untrustworthy sites for purchases.
“Those measures will come at an enormous cost in terms of lost time and expenditures at least in the tens of millions of dollars,” Google argued.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, prompting Google’s appeal.
The filing was presented to Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, who oversees appeals from the 9th Circuit.
The 9th Circuit hears cases out of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii.
Google is also involved in an antitrust lawsuit with the Justice Department.
According to a press release, the DOJ won a lower court case against Google for “monopolizing open-web digital advertising markets.”
The court ruled that the search giant “harmed Google’s publishing customers, the competitive process and, ultimately, consumers of information on the open web.”
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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