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India orders anti-trust probe of Google for alleged Android abuse
- sessy 7y agoJust about a decade ago Microsoft faced similar charges for bundling IE with Windows OS. By the time the dust settled on all litigations, the competition was decimated or attenuated to stay in business.
- bartimus 7y agoWindows isn't open source though.
- pjmlp 7y agoNeither is Android. AOSP is a very small part of what actually makes Android on the eyes of consumers.
- vatueil 7y agoDepending on how "what actually makes Android on the eyes of consumers" is defined, it's certainly possible to minimize the role of AOSP. At the same time, we're getting articles talking about how Microsoft is now an "open source company" because their proprietary operating system can run Linux and some open source apps: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/05/microsoft-the-open-source-company/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/05/microsoft-the-open-s...
- pjmlp 7y agoIt goes to both.
- lnanek2 7y agoI have to agree with him. I had to fix an app for a Huawei Honor 8x phone the other day. As the phone doesn't have Google Play Services and doesn't offer it in the app store - it's a huge pain using it. Enthusiasts can sometimes hack Google support on to an AOSP edition, but as app developers, we have to support what every day customers can do. There are so many apps that won't work on it at all since Google has been steadily replacing AOSP services like location with Google Play proprietary versions. If you go to the open version of location services, you'll see there's a huge note at the top that you should really go use Google's version: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/location And any app that requires that, isn't going to work on Android releases that don't have Google's blessing like Huawei.
- vatueil 7y agoThe point regarding Play Services is valid, and if the parent comment had focused on that I would not have objected. But that doesn't mean AOSP is a "very small part" of Android or that it isn't open source. The flip-side of your experience is that it highlights the existence of a large number of Android devices based on AOSP that don't run Google apps, particularly in the PRC. Aside from the Chinese market, you have a major company like Amazon selling millions of devices with their own AOSP fork on them. On an individual level, I can install Lineage OS on my unlocked devices and use apps from F-Droid as well as many others. Play Services does have a significant foothold in many users' experiences, which bears discussion, but it doesn't invalidate AOSP. It is Android's open source nature that allows for forks and for apps to be shared across the Android ecosystem much more readily than programs developed for an actual proprietary operating system such as Windows.
- scblzn 7y agoRecently there was this too (made quite some noise on social networks) : https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/05/08/kiwi-browser-removed-from-play-store-due-to-youtube-background-playback/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/05/08/kiwi-browser-remove... Ok, this story is more about Google Play Store but I feel like there is maybe (in my opinion) some conflict and abuse of dominant position here too. Felt like it was relevant will all the other Google stories in the last days (Nest for ex.)
- Fnoord 7y agoFor people who want this feature, consider NewPipe on F-Droid. A perfect example how a proprietary "app" does not do what you want whereas a FOSS app does.
- izacus 7y agoYou mean break the copyright law? YouTube is very clear that they want you to pay for the content/service to play content in background.
- deogeo 7y agoThat's a Terms of Service violation, not copyright law violation. And enforcement of law and contract should not be built into programs - they're supposed to serve the user, not betray them to corporations and government.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Fnoord 7y agoIt is a ToS violation at worst. There are numerous reasons to use the application. 1) FOSS, available in F-Droid. 2) Multitasking. 3) No ghost touching 4) Saves battery. My alternative would be using Firefox where I utilize uBlock.
- aibara 7y ago
- snr 7y agoMake it "punishable by up to 5% of global turnover over last three years" (kinda similar to GDPR) and stand back and see how quickly Google (I'm looking at you too Facebook, and Amazon) will change their shit show. India is at a position of strength wrt Google, Amazon, and Fb to easily force them to play nice. Now if only they realized it.
- kkarakk 7y agoit's india, i doubt anything will happen besides some combination of judge/businessman/politician getting their hands nice and greased up. only reason they even care is because the EU got google to cough up already, they're in it for their pound of flesh.
- webbrahmin 7y agoI will disagree with you here. Cases which are in the public eye are settled without the things you mentioned. There are Indian government institutions which are honest. Financial regulator and watchdog SEBI is one such institution. I have worked in the financial services industry are we were scared of SEBI. Competition Commission of India is also nonpartisan and has never been in a corruption scandal as far as I know.
- dqybh 7y agoIsn't it election time in India?
- amf12 7y agoMajority Indians don't give a shit about this or understand it enough to influence elections.
- onetimemanytime 7y agodeath by dozen cuts. If major countries keep fining and forcing them to change behavior eventually it will hurt
- jfoster 7y agoCountries probably need Android more than Android needs countries. How would India like to have a choice between iOS & BlackBerry? Android losing India as a market would suck a bit for Android, but life would go on.
- jimam 7y agoThere are probably more Android devices in India than in the US.
- onetimemanytime 7y agoThat's not how the game is played. Google cannot afford to lose India, like it lost China. India will then go after G Search etc etc.
- scarface74 7y agoThere is a little country called China that has plenty of “Android” phones that have no Google services.
- pgcj_poster 7y agoI'm sure India can make its own operating system if it needs to.
- zuron7 7y agoThe irony is strong with this one considering a lot of Government apps do not work without Google Play Services. Including incredibly popular payment apps like BHIM which was developed by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India). I know cos I have a phone without Play Services and using Government apps is out of question. Thankfully, there are web alternatives for all servuces
- wtmt 7y agoNPCI, contrary to what the name seems to imply, is not a government company or organization. It’s a consortium of government and private banks (including the likes of foreign banks like Citibank and HSBC). Its payment services are allowed by the RBI. Neither is the BHIM app a government app. It’s an NPCI app.
- zuron7 7y agoAh, seems that you are right. The government doesn't own it, but sure does seem to have a controlling stake through the Public Sector Banks.
- vram22 7y agoBut is that due to NPCI or Google? I had read a while ago that Google was using Google Play Services as a way to enforce that certain things on the platform get done the way Google wants it to be (speaking loosely, do not have the link to what I read), although Android itself is open source (technically).
- billfruit 7y agoIndian anti trust mechanisms are weak and ineffective, many government owned companies are themselves indulging in activities which should invite anti trust measures, so I hardly see anything significant coming out of this move.
- ggcb 7y agogov owned companies excuse for existing is the acceptance of the benefits to society if such enterprises controls the monopoly. you don't expect the water and power dept leaving out a neighborhood just so the free enterprise have a chance there, do you?
- addicted 7y agoThe fact that govt owned/regulated monopolies make sense in some industries does not contradict what the OP says. A very obvious example in India is the Indian airline industry. As an intern I worked with an investment bank on preparing a pitch for the sale of a private Indian airline, and the entire thing basically hinged on what the government wanted to do with the national airlines (which since then have been merged). The Indian government’s recent inability to sell Air India has led them to take action that, at least to an outside observer who did some pretty in depth research, albeit a decade ago, appears to have been driven by reducing competition for the government airline.
- wtmt 7y agoDigital literacy is very poor in India. Most people in India wouldn’t understand what a browser choice actually means, even if Google is forced to provide it. I’m sure Google would also frame the browser choice with dark patterns to make Chrome the default, so that it can continue earning money from ads since Chrome doesn’t support extensions on Android (thwarting ad blocking). Since this probe may take a year or longer (things usually take longer in India), the impact on Google would be very less. Google could figure out ways to appease the CCI without sacrificing much.
- rahuldottech 7y ago> Digital literacy is very poor in India. You're very wrong here. Source: am Indian. Edit: I think that you're an Indian too, from a previous comment. I don't know what age bracket you're in or what demographics you're exposed to, but digital literacy is not poor here at all, and is rapidly on the rise.
- wtmt 7y agoYour qualification of being Indian isn’t enough (if it were, then this would be a tie). Knowing how to open Facebook or YouTube isn’t digital literacy (though it can be considered as a very basic thing). Many poorer people struggle with this fact. Maybe your education, social/economic standing and your circle of friends/coworkers hides others in the society and their hardships. Digital literacy may be on the rise, but even “basic” things like transferring money from one bank account to another is out of the reach of many people. How many understand basic security principles and follow them? As I pointed out, what percentage even knows what a browser is and what alternatives exist?
- AlphaBrahmin 7y agoProbably just a power move to get google to play ball with the Indian government on controlling search results and access to Indian citizens data.
- amrx431 7y agoYour username though. I should have been creative. Should have conjured AlphaShudra.
- manishsharan 7y agoYour username proclaims your caste ... And shows a curiouss lack of sensibility. I agree with the point you are making but I find your caste signalling deplorable.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- thisisit 7y agoCCI, the government body in question, was formed about a decade ago. It already has couple of run-ins with Google: 1. They fined Google INR 1 Crore in 2014 for refusal to provide information relating to a "search bias" case 2. Later, on the same case Alphabet was fined INR 135.86 crores