EC fines Google €4.34bn
NEWSFLASH: The European Commission has fined Google €4.34bn for breaching EU antitrust rules.
The tech giant is being sanctioned for abusing its dominant position in the Android operating system for mobile phones.The EC says Google unfairly took advantage of the popularity of its Android mobile phone operating system, and forced phonemakers to pre-install Google services such as its flagship search product.Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is outlining the decision now.Commissioner Vestager says Google must make amends within 90 days, or the company will incur penalty payments.
Vestager is outlining the case against Google.
She says:
Google required manufacturers to pre-install the Google search and browser apps on Android phones, otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed to use Google Play (its app service)/.
Google paid manufacturers and network operators to make sure that only the Google search app was installed on devices
Google has restricted the development of competing mobile phone operating systems, which could have provided a platform for rival search engines.
Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement its dominance as a search engine.These practices have denied rivals a chance to innovate and to compete on the merits.They have denied European consumers the benefit of effective competition in the very important mobile sphere.And this is illegal under EU antitrust rules.
In theory, a manufacturer can used the Android source code to create their own platform, as Google makes it openly accessible.But in practice, Vestager says, device manufacturers who wish to obtain Google’s proprietary Android apps and services need to enter into contracts with Google, as part of which Google imposes a number of restrictions.Google has prevented device manufacturers from using any alternative version of Android that was not approved by Google (Android forks).In order to be able to pre-install on their devices Google’s proprietary apps, including the Play Store and Google Search, manufacturers had to commit not to develop or sell even a single device running on an Android fork.The Commission found that this conduct was abusive as of 2011, which is the date Google became dominant in the market for app stores for the Android mobile operating system.
https://www.theguardian.com/bu...e-fine-fed-chair-business-live
Inače, Gugl se svojevremeno hvalio kako čuva pare po raznim poreskim rajevima. Ne bi me čudilo da popije još jednu kaznu, slično kao Apple. Neka se spremi Fejsbuk.