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Google Is Appealing a $5B Antitrust Fine in the EU

33 points by rolph 5y ago

ct0 5y ago
Of course they are. Water is wet.
- rasz 5y ago
  Its a no brainer. Intel still hasnt paid 1B fine for bribing vendors to stop buying AMD products.
KptMarchewa 5y ago
Why are they able to appeal stuff three years later?
- jsnell 5y ago
  I think they appealed three years ago, and it is only now in court? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-alphabet-inc-antitrust-idUSKCN1MJ2CA https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-alphabet-inc-antitrust...
- cblackthornekc 5y ago
  I'm going to guess an ongoing pandemic might have delayed it just a bit
  - hulitu 5y ago
    Also some lobbying.
ksec 5y ago
That is sort of strange. Part of the reason why Google is able to provide Android for free is that they monetise it via its services bundled with Android. So I guess Google has to charge for Android as an OS instead?
- dathinab 5y ago
  But you don't get Android from google, you get a fork from the vendor which produced the phone you bought. So you are paying (in many ways) for companies you payed getting it for free... And maybe the cheapest level of phones would get more expensive. But for many (most) Android phones (sold in the EU) the price increase if Android isn't free should be fairly small. (Especially given that google still gets a lot of other benefits from people using Android, I mean e.g. Google Play is still the default App store.)
  - ksec 5y ago
    >you get a fork from the vendor which produced the phone you bought. Well yes. But the vendor get its fork from Google, particularly speaking. From my understanding, vendor are perfectly free to take Android source code and make their own OS . But if you want all the extra provided by Google Android ( the OS ), you have to include all the bundled Software. The current ruling would be like asking Windows to not bundle Email and Browser. This is similar to the Microsoft ruling where it has to provide a Windows OS that allows multiple Browser options during setup. Generally speaking EUR doesn't like freemium model. That is why the suggestion of charging for Android. I read it as EU having problem with Google providing Android ( OS ) for free and stifles competition from all of its bundled services.
- kergonath 5y ago
  "But it's the only way to make it free" is no excuse when you've been found to have done something illegal. If your business is found to be against the law, then it is on you to get a better one.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  If they don't think they can make Android profitable without abusing their position, they can always choose to stop offering it. I'm sure something better will take its place.
- hulitu 5y ago
  It was bundled with the phone in the same way some computers come with windows preinstalled. I would not say it was free.
yellow_lead 5y ago
Even if you thought you couldn't win, the interest is so high on a $5B fine, you want to delay payment as long as possible.

33 points by rolph 5y ago

ct0 5y ago

Of course they are. Water is wet.

rasz 5y ago
Its a no brainer. Intel still hasnt paid 1B fine for bribing vendors to stop buying AMD products.

KptMarchewa 5y ago

Why are they able to appeal stuff three years later?

jsnell 5y ago
I think they appealed three years ago, and it is only now in court? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-alphabet-inc-antitrust-idUSKCN1MJ2CA https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-alphabet-inc-antitrust...
cblackthornekc 5y ago
I'm going to guess an ongoing pandemic might have delayed it just a bit
- hulitu 5y ago
  Also some lobbying.

ksec 5y ago

That is sort of strange. Part of the reason why Google is able to provide Android for free is that they monetise it via its services bundled with Android. So I guess Google has to charge for Android as an OS instead?

dathinab 5y ago
But you don't get Android from google, you get a fork from the vendor which produced the phone you bought. So you are paying (in many ways) for companies you payed getting it for free... And maybe the cheapest level of phones would get more expensive. But for many (most) Android phones (sold in the EU) the price increase if Android isn't free should be fairly small. (Especially given that google still gets a lot of other benefits from people using Android, I mean e.g. Google Play is still the default App store.)
- ksec 5y ago
  >you get a fork from the vendor which produced the phone you bought. Well yes. But the vendor get its fork from Google, particularly speaking. From my understanding, vendor are perfectly free to take Android source code and make their own OS . But if you want all the extra provided by Google Android ( the OS ), you have to include all the bundled Software. The current ruling would be like asking Windows to not bundle Email and Browser. This is similar to the Microsoft ruling where it has to provide a Windows OS that allows multiple Browser options during setup. Generally speaking EUR doesn't like freemium model. That is why the suggestion of charging for Android. I read it as EU having problem with Google providing Android ( OS ) for free and stifles competition from all of its bundled services.
kergonath 5y ago
"But it's the only way to make it free" is no excuse when you've been found to have done something illegal. If your business is found to be against the law, then it is on you to get a better one.
pessimizer 5y ago
If they don't think they can make Android profitable without abusing their position, they can always choose to stop offering it. I'm sure something better will take its place.
hulitu 5y ago
It was bundled with the phone in the same way some computers come with windows preinstalled. I would not say it was free.

yellow_lead 5y ago

Even if you thought you couldn't win, the interest is so high on a $5B fine, you want to delay payment as long as possible.