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Google swipes left at dating app conglomerate, fighting anticompetitive claims with its own countersuit
Google is firing back at Match Group with its own counterclaims over a Play Store billing grievance
Back in May, Match Group filed suit against Google for requiring that apps distributed through the Play Store use Play's billing, calling it "anticompetitive." If this sounds familiar, it's the same sort of argument Epic Games made against Google and Apple and an argument we've heard from lots of companies with apps on the Play Store now that Google is actually enforcing its billing policies, which were long ignored. Google has now shot back at Match with its own countersuit, claiming that Match is just trying to take advantage of Google's platform reach without adhering to its rules.
Google will pay small US app developers a total of $90 million following settlement
The company is also committing to significant improvements to the Play Store following the court case
While Google allows other app stores on its Google-powered flavor of Android, it’s clear that the Play Store is the place to be for developers if they want to reach a remotely significant number of people. App developers have long alleged that Google is misusing its power over this significant market, and a class action lawsuit followed in 2021. Now, a settlement has been reached, with Google establishing a $90 million fund to support smaller developers in the US and bringing major changes to the Play Store.
Lawsuit alleges T-Mobile left Sprint 5G customers out in the cold
And another lawsuit claims the merger reduced competition
T-Mobile could face a class-action lawsuit for how it handled Sprint's legacy 5G network shutdown following the acquisition. As reported by Light Reading, this is just a single lawsuit from a single person, but the plaintiff is aiming to rope in other customers that purchased Sprint 5G-compatible devices without being informed of the shutdown that lost 5G access, with up to 75,000 phones potentially affected — that's a lot of potential customers that could be included if the suit continues and the class is certified.
Google faces lawsuit amid video-production unit's ties to obscure religious sect
Former employee claims he was fired for complaining about the sect's influence
According to a recent report by The New York Times, Google's defending itself against another lawsuit. That's hardly unique for the company these days, but this time it's due to the alleged influence of a "religious sect" on a business unit. One Kevin Lloyd, a former video producer for the company, claims he was fired for drawing attention to the religious sect's influence.
More states take a stand against AirTag stalking with new legislation
New bills in Ohio and New Jersey aim to criminalize remote tracking without consent
Apple AirTags have been getting quite a bit of publicity since the release just over a year ago, and most of it has been for the wrong reasons. Reports from around the US and Canada have shown that the low-cost tracking device has been used for stalking, surveillance, and even in a strategy to steal cars. Now at least three states are moving to explicitly criminalize the use of remote trackers for malicious purposes.
Google responds to Bandcamp's hypocrisy in Play Store billing fight and potential ban
Epic-owned Bandcamp is trying to stay in the Play Store but doesn't want to follow Google's billing rules
Read update
In 2020, Google announced a "new" Play Store policy change to prevent apps from circumventing Google's in-app billing rules. Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify had ignored its billing policies years in their apps, allowing customers to purchase content and subscriptions without Google taking a cut, but the hammer was set to fall. Although the change itself was delayed for a while, it finally kicks into gear soon, and now Epic Games is taking Google to court to prevent Bandcamp from being yanked from the Play Store for not giving Google a cut of its in-app sales.
Google and Apple might be forced to open up their platforms for third-party app stores and payments
The Open App Markets Act is one step closer to being a law
The Open App Markets Act has advanced out of Senate Judiciary committee. In short, that means the bill — which would require Apple to allow sideloading of apps on iPhones, and force both Google and Apple to allow third-party billing on their app stores and third-party app stores on their platforms — is one step closer to becoming law. It’s particularly important to note (and particularly concerning for Apple and Google) that the act got plenty of bipartisan support.
The FTC can move ahead with its Facebook lawsuit, possibly splitting Instagram and WhatsApp away from it
Facebook might be known as Meta now, but it’s still the same company
Meta’s subdivision Facebook is in for some legal trouble with the FTC over allegations of the social network abusing its dominant position in the market to create what is essentially a monopoly. While the FTC originally filed a lawsuit against the company back at the end of 2020, a judge ruled that it didn’t offer sufficient allegations, forcing the commission to go back to the drawing board. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FTC’s revised antitrust case has now been cleared by a federal judge and can move forward in court.
Google forced to change how Nest speakers work following Trade Commission ruling for Sonos [Update]
Cast-enabled speakers are also losing Speaker Group volume controls
Read update
Sonos and Google have been at war with each other for years now, as the former company alleges some major copyright and patent infringement. As lawsuits and accusations of theft have continued to pile up, Google has been forced to make changes to its software in response. The company was just handed its biggest blow yet, as Sonos won a major court decision that, at worst, could result in an import ban on some of Google's most popular products, but in the meantime will force changes to how Google's smart speakers work.
Google and Meta slapped with multi-million euro fines for cookie policy violations
Refusing cookies must be as simple as accepting them, says French regulator
Cookie banners are the bane of most people’s existence, popping up whenever they visit a new website. Many companies have a bad habit of making it harder to refuse cookies than to accept them, but Google and Meta (ex Facebook) will soon have to change this practice in France. French privacy and personal data regulator CNIL has hit the companies with 150 million and 60 million euro fines ($170 million and $68 million), respectively (via Reuters).
Google's January patch for Pixels includes the glorious return of casting volume controls
After being initially removed from Android 12
Anyone who regularly casts movies or music in their home will gladly tell you how essential volume controls are on their phone. Unfortunately, Google removed the ability to pump up your remote jams natively in Android 12, something that initially seemed like a bug before the legal truth of it all came out. A workaround was spotted in development for Android 12L, but it looks like it'll no longer be necessary.
The FTC just tossed a wrench into Nvidia's plans to acquire ARM
Turns out this deal is as anti-competitive as everyone assumed
We've been hearing about Nvidia's attempts to acquire chipset maker ARM since last year, but thanks to some not-so-surprising concerns from the US government, the purchase has yet to be made official. After both companies confirmed in October that the ongoing antitrust probe was far from complete, it seemed like the deal's future was murky at best. Now we know the conclusion of that investigation: an FTC lawsuit meant to put an end to the sale.
So you've purchased a new Google product, but you want to make sure you've got the necessary consumer rights in order to take the big G to a court or be part of a class-action lawsuit, should anything go wrong. If you live in the US, this means you'll need to opt out of Google's binding arbitration agreement, and you'll only have a limited amount of time to do so. This guide will explain exactly what the agreement means for you as a consumer, and how you can opt out before it's too late.
Google was worried enough about Epic Games that it created a 'Fortnite Task Force'
Seems like Google would rather keep its de-facto monopoly over game and app distribution
Epic Games and Google have been in a legal dispute ever since the gaming company tried to bypass the Play Store's 30% cut on in-game content via concealed code in an update to Fortnite in 2020, but the fight between the two businesses started much earlier. Epic first offered a version of Fortnite outside the Play Store as early as 2018, and that apparently really scared Google. As details from a legal filing reveal (via Bloomberg), Google quickly created a Fortnite task force to come up with a strategy against Epic's break with the Play Store.
The FCC may finally do something — anything — about phone number theft
But the commission has only announced that it's started making rules to combat SIM swapping
The FCC is poised to tackle some of the most common threats in modern identity theft as it begins drafting rules against SIM swapping and port-out fraud.
Google's anti-competitive behavior costs it another $177 million
It's South Korea's turn to dish out an antitrust fine this time around
Only a couple of weeks after the South Korean government passed a bill that will force Google (and Apple) to allow app developers to receive payments via third-party systems, the country's regulator has dealt another huge blow to the Mountain View company. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has announced that it's fining Google's parent company Alphabet the modest sum of $177 million for abusing its dominance in the smartphone OS market.
Epic Games may be on the hook for a whopping $3.6 million if it loses appeal against Apple
A narrative shift may toss out rules that would cost Epic the money
Last week's ruling in Epic Games v. Apple which basically allowed app developers to direct customers away from the App Store payment platform for in-app transactions was praised and panned across the spectrum. But in the view of Epic, it did not go far enough in stopping what it alleges to be Apple's harmful practices on its iOS app distribution monopoly. So it went on Sunday as the gaming giant filed an appeal.
Judge rules iPhone devs can route in-app transactions away from App Store, but Apple declares a win
Epic Games, the company that launched the lawsuit, will appeal
Apple probably knew what was coming down the pike when it decided last week to allow app developers to communicate to customers ways to conduct in-app transactions that circumvent the App Store and its 30% commission fee. But it looks like the skids are coming on anyway as the most prominent lawsuit over the iPhone maker's alleged monopoly on iOS app sales takes a final, major turn.
Amazon delists RavPower, TaoTronics, and Vava as its crackdown on fake reviews continues
All three brands share the same parent company
Read update
Fake reviews are a real problem in online commerce. If you're trying to shop for a new gadget, you're bound to look at customer feedback to see the real pros and cons of real-world owners. A month after cracking down on fake reviews from Aukey, Amazon has returned to continue cleaning out its storefront. This time, RavPower, TaoTronics, and dashcam company Vava have all found themselves in the hot seat, as all three companies have disappeared from the world's largest marketplace.Though Amazon started with RavPower on Wednesday, the delisting expanded to include TaoTronics and Vava on Thursday morning. All three brands share a parent company in Sunvalley, specializing in various consumer electronics like chargers, headphones, USB lights, and more.Just like with Aukey, Mpow, and several other brands before it, these takedowns spawn from promised gift cards in exchange for leaving reviews for products sold on Amazon. After posting, users could contact the provided email address with their order ID and review URL to score some free cash. Amazon's actions come just a few days after Nicole Nguyen of The Wall Street Journal ran a story about RavPower's offer included with her charger.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/nicnguyen/status/1405202548760334339[/EMBED_TWITTER]While actual buyers do leave these reviews, Amazon doesn't allow incentivization in its store, considering these posts just as "fake" as any other scam. It's a shame to see RavPower delisted for its review strategy since its products are genuinely excellent, especially for the price. I personally own a RavPower charger and power bank, and both have served me well over the years. Unfortunately, this could be it for yet another major seller on Amazon. After all, it's been more than a month since Aukey was banned from the site, and its products have yet to return to its store page.
Sonos could get a whole bunch of Google products banned in Germany — is the US next?
The Pixel 4a, YouTube Music, Nest speakers, and potentially more might be affected
You may have heard that Sonos and Google are involved in a dispute over patent infringement in the US, with Sonos claiming that the search company used its power to steal intellectual property when they first partnered up. The legal debate isn't limited by borders, though. Sonos also brought Google to court in Germany, where it has managed to enforce a preliminary sales ban of a whole bunch of Google products using the Cast protocol.