Google Hit With (EU) Antitrust Charges Over Android Apps

[Eugene]

Source: ABC News

Google Hit With Antitrust Charges Over Android Apps

By ALYSSA NEWCOMB Apr 20, 2016, 9:02 AM ET

Google has been slapped with antitrust charges that could change the way the company does business in Europe.

The European Commission today alleged that Google, which runs the open-source Android operating system, abused its market dominance by placing restrictions on Android manufacturers and mobile network operators regarding the core suite of Google apps the company requires to be loaded on all devices and one swipe away at most from the home screen.

The stakes are high for Google. If the company unsuccessfully argues the charges, they could be subject to a fine as high as 10 percent of its annual global sales, which comes out to a steep $7 billion.

"Based on our investigation thus far, we believe that Google's behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services and stands in the way of innovation by other players, in breach of EU antitrust rules," Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition policy at the European Commission, said in a statement today.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/google-hit-antitrust-charges-android-apps/story?id=38518131

[vdogg]

1. The EUROPEAN hates anything google.

Literally every other year it's something else. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from making their own version of Google or Android to compete