4 ms·

(IANAL) You CAN sue them, but for what is unclear. "Wielding too much power" isn't a crime. And even if you could find a legitimate reason, you are unlikely t

(IANAL) You CAN sue them, but for what is unclear. "Wielding too much power" isn't a crime. And even if you could find a legitimate reason, you are unlikely to win. I would assume Google Play's Terms of Service has several clauses, including indemnity, arbitration, and agreement that Google can remove your app at anytime for any reason. Any of those should be sufficient to have the suit summarily dimissed.

supermatt 8y ago
Simply because the ToS says that, it doesn't mean it's a fair contract. Whether you win would depend on the jurisdiction.
- balls187 8y ago
  And resources at your disposal.
gmueckl 8y ago
That may be true for the US - I don't know US law well enough to say anything there. In large parts of Europe, however, there are very generic rules about what constitute fair contracts and some terms like forced arbitration may not be valid there. At the very least, it should be easier to involve lawyers and not get totally ignored by the other party. It's never pretty, but at least it is possible.
ElBarto 8y ago
It would be a civil case, not a criminal one, and it would be on the basis that they caused you a financial loss and a loss of reputation. The main issue IMHO is not so much whether that would be possible but the fact that they have infinite financial resources while you and I probably have very little money to throw at legal costs. So we're screwed.
wyldfire 8y ago
> You CAN sue them, but for what is unclear. "Wielding too much power" isn't a crime. Criminal statutes don't apply to an individual's remedy here. You can sue for damages, but, yes, "wielding power" is not evidence of damages. However, the power being wielded could be evidence in an anti-trust suit brought by the government. The Play Store does lots of interesting and innovative stuff in the space of automated tests to detect malware. But clearly there's a lot of room for improvement.

supermatt 8y ago

Simply because the ToS says that, it doesn't mean it's a fair contract. Whether you win would depend on the jurisdiction.

balls187 8y ago
And resources at your disposal.

gmueckl 8y ago

That may be true for the US - I don't know US law well enough to say anything there. In large parts of Europe, however, there are very generic rules about what constitute fair contracts and some terms like forced arbitration may not be valid there. At the very least, it should be easier to involve lawyers and not get totally ignored by the other party. It's never pretty, but at least it is possible.

ElBarto 8y ago

It would be a civil case, not a criminal one, and it would be on the basis that they caused you a financial loss and a loss of reputation. The main issue IMHO is not so much whether that would be possible but the fact that they have infinite financial resources while you and I probably have very little money to throw at legal costs. So we're screwed.

wyldfire 8y ago

> You CAN sue them, but for what is unclear. "Wielding too much power" isn't a crime. Criminal statutes don't apply to an individual's remedy here. You can sue for damages, but, yes, "wielding power" is not evidence of damages. However, the power being wielded could be evidence in an anti-trust suit brought by the government. The Play Store does lots of interesting and innovative stuff in the space of automated tests to detect malware. But clearly there's a lot of room for improvement.