Google granted request to pause order on Play store overhaul

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) - A federal judge in California has granted Google's request to temporarily pause his order directing the Alphabet unit to overhaul its Android app store Play by Nov. 1 to give consumers more choice over how they download software.

San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge James Donato made the decision on Friday as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Google by "Fortnite" maker Epic Games. Google argued that Donato's Oct. 7 injunction would harm the company and introduce "serious safety, security and privacy risks into the Android ecosystem."

Donato delayed the injunction to allow the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider Google's separate request to pause the judge's order.

Donato denied Google's separate request to pause the order for the duration of its broader appeal in the case.

"We're pleased with the District Court's decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal," Google said in a statement.

Epic in a statement called Donato's ruling a procedural step, and said the court "made it clear that Google's appeal is meritless and rejected their request to delay opening up Android devices to competition while the appeal is ongoing."

Epic accused Google of using "fearmongering and unsubstantiated security threats to protect their control over Android devices and continue extracting exorbitant fees."

In the Epic Games lawsuit, a jury last year found that Google illegally monopolized how consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions. The judge, in his order, embraced many of the steps recommended by Epic in light of the jury's decision.

The order required Google to allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores in Play and to allow the use of competing in-app payment methods. It also barred Google from making payments to device makers to preinstall its app store and from sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.

Google has already appealed the jury's antitrust findings to the 9th Circuit.

Google has not presented its antitrust arguments to the appeals court. It previously has said that it cannot be considered a monopolist because Play and Apple's App Store are direct competitors, and that Donato's injunction would unlawfully force Google to do business with rivals.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by David Bario, Will Dunham, Chizu Nomiyama, Deepa Babington and Richard Chang)