All 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have reached an agreement in principle with Google to settle a lawsuit filed in 2021 over the tech giant’s alleged monopolistic control of app distribution for the software that runs most of the world’s cellphones.
The agreement, cited in a court filing reached Tuesday, is subject to approval by the attorneys general and board of directors of Google’s parent company, execution of an agreement and court approval.
Terms of the temporary pact bar the parties from disclosing its details for now, according to the Utah attorney general’s office, a lead plaintiff in the bipartisan.
“No company is too big to play by the rules, including Google. We brought this lawsuit because it is illegal to use monopoly power to drive up prices,” New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, said in a statement. The bipartisan group “fought for a fair marketplace that encourages competition, innovation, and lower prices for consumers,” she said, and look forward to “finalizing the agreement and sharing more details in the next 30 days.”
Google spokesperson Peter Shottenfels said the company had “no comment at this time.”
A trial date had been set for Nov. 6.
The complaint filed initially by 36 states and the District of Colombia in northern California federal court echoed similar allegations that mobile game maker Epic Games made against Google that is scheduled to go to trial in November.
Apple prevailed in a separate suit Epic filed against it over the separate app store it runs exclusively for iPhones, with a federal appeals court upholding in April its sole control of app distribution.
Google still faces several major antitrust lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice and other government agencies across the US focused on alleged search-related and advertising market monopolistic behavior. Justice’s search-related case is set for trial on Sept. 12.
In November, Google settled with 40 states over the tracking of user location, paying $391 million.
The Utah-led suit was among actions taken in recent years to try to curtail the enormous power amassed by Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, which have built unprecedented digital empires by corralling consumers into services with minimal competitors.
Like the Epic lawsuit, the states’ lawsuit focused primarily on the control Google exerts on its Play app store so it can collect commissions of up to 30 percent on digital transactions within apps installed on smartphones running on the Android operating system. Those devices represent more than 80 percent of the worldwide smartphone market.
Although its app commissions are similar to Apple’s, Google has tried to distinguish itself by allowing consumers to download apps from other places than its Play store. Apple, by contrast, doesn’t allow iPhone users to install apps from any other outlet than its own store.
But the states’ lawsuit took issue with Google’s claim that its Android software is an open operating system that allows consumers more choices. It contended Google has set up anticompetitive barriers to ensure it distributes more than 90 percent of the apps on Android devices — a market share that the attorneys general argued represented an illegal monopoly.
Lawsuits the Mountain View, California, company is still fighting include a landmark case brought by the US Justice Department in 2020 focused on alleged abuses of Google’s dominant search engine and its digital ad network, which generates some $100 billion in annual revenue for its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc.
Google reaches tentative settlement with all US states over alleged app store monopoly
https://arab.news/bbutq
Google reaches tentative settlement with all US states over alleged app store monopoly
- The tech giant still faces major antitrust lawsuits filed by US government agencies over alleged search-related and advertising market monopolistic behavior
Pioneering Asharq Al-Awsat journalist Mohammed al-Shafei dies at 74
- Egyptian was known for his fearless coverage of terrorist, extremist groups
- One of handful of reporters to interview Taliban leader Mullah Omar in 1970s
LONDON: Mohammed al-Shafei, one of Asharq Al-Awsat’s most prominent journalists, has died at the age of 74 after a 40-year career tackling some of the region’s thorniest issues.
Born in Egypt in 1951, al-Shafei earned a bachelor’s degree from Cairo University in 1974 before moving to the UK, where he studied journalism and translation at the University of Westminster and the School of Oriental and African Studies.
He began his journalism career at London-based Arabic papers Al-Muslimoon and Al-Arab — both of which are published by Saudi Research & Publishing Co. which also owns Arab News — before joining Al-Zahira after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Al-Shafei joined Asharq Al-Awsat in 1991 and spent 15 years on the sports desk before shifting to reporting on terrorism. He went on to pioneer Arab press coverage in the field, writing about all aspects of it, including its ideologies and ties to states like Iran.
His colleagues knew him for his calm demeanor, humility and meticulous approach, marked by precise documentation, deep analysis and avoidance of sensationalism.
Al-Shafei ventured fearlessly into terrorist strongholds, meeting senior terrorist leaders and commanders. In the 1970s he was one of only a handful of journalists to interview Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, and conducted exclusive interviews with senior figures within Al-Qaeda.
He also tracked post-Al-Qaeda groups like Daesh, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Boko Haram, offering pioneering analysis of Sunni-Shiite extremism and how cultural contexts shaped movements across Asia and Africa.
During the war on Al-Qaeda, he visited US bases in Afghanistan, embedded with international forces, and filed investigative reports from active battlefields — rare feats in Arab journalism at the time.
He interviewed Osama bin Laden’s son, highlighting a humanitarian angle while maintaining objectivity, and was among the few Arab journalists to report from Guantanamo, where his interviews with Al-Qaeda detainees shed light on the group’s operations.
Al-Shafei married a Turkish woman in London in the late 1970s, with whom he had a son and daughter. He was still working just hours before he died in London on Dec. 31.
