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MADRID, SPAIN (FOLHAPRESS) – The European Union announced on Wednesday a record fine of the US technology giant Google. The European Commission, the executive branch of the economic bloc, accuses the company of abusing its dominant position in the handset market.
The fine of 4.3 billion euros (or 19 billion reais) is almost the double 2.4 billion euros ($ 10.7 billion) charged in 2017 by Google for having favored its own price comparison website. According to Bloomberg, it is the highest amount ever demanded in the world in competition cases, exceeding the fines imposed by the United States and China in the past.
The money should be distributed among the member states of the European Union.
The value
The amount will not open a void in the accounts of the company, which has a reserve equivalent to almost R $ 400 billion. But in the context of the threat of trade wars between US President Donald Trump and Europe, this decision will cause even more friction.
One of Google's problems, according to the European Union, is that it forces manufacturers to pre-install their services and applications on the Android operating system, used by more than 80% of smartphones on the planet. The company does not allow users to use Google Play, their app store, they have not already installed their own browser and search engine.
Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition of the European Commission, believes that this "binding" tactic – has helped to consolidate Google as the first search engine on the Internet in the last decade.
"These practices have prevented competitors from having the opportunity to innovate and have prevented European consumers from benefiting from effective competition, which is illegal under the law of the United States. 39, European Union, "said the Commissioner in announcing the fine.
The Vestager Report had already said in March of this year "If a company sabotages competition, for me it's a matter of justice," he said, "if a company sabotages competition, it's a matter of justice for me. " he said. Last week, President Trump said Vestager "really hates the United States," judging by his fines on American companies.
The announcement was initially expected for last week but was postponed to coincide with the NATO summit, the Western Military Alliance, in Brussels. It was said that Vestager would instead call Google CEO Sundar Pichai to explain the terms of the fine – the European Commission said it would not confirm that the conversation has taken place.
The American company is also accused of providing financial incentives for networks and manufacturers to install their research system, which violates the rules of competition in the European Union.
The economic bloc is now waiting for Google to change its strategy, which could influence the experience of millions of Android system users on the continent – probably on US-based users United and the rest of the world.
If you do not do this within 90 days, Google may be fined 5%, in the alphabet.
Google Response
In response to allegations, Google did not agree with the badessment that there is no competition in its service, citing the rival Apple. The company also said that if devices have their search system installed by default, users are not prevented from finding alternatives by installing other apps.
Their spokesman, Al Verney, said Wednesday that Google is going to court to appeal the decision. "Android has created more choices for everyone, not less," he said.
The CEO of the company, Sundar Pichai, repeated the message in a statement in the afternoon "If you prefer to use other applications or browsers" The decision of the Commission ignores the obvious evidence of the way people use their phones today. "
When asked by reporters during her speech, European Commissioner Vestager said she was not expecting an apology. The fine imposed by the European Commission on Google is the largest in the world, "he said," it's not a moral issue, we just want them to play by respecting the rules. "
FINES
(2018)
Approve the five largest fines imposed in the history of the European Union for abuse of dominant position:
In order to establish the dominant position of its system of ex Operation for Android smartphones and tablets, in order to promote its own applications as its search engine, the European Commission has fined Google 4,342 billion euros
2. Google (2017)
The Community Executive taxed 2.44 billion euros on Google for promoting its Google search service in its popular search engine to the detriment of its competitors. The company appealed the decision in court
3. Intel (2009)
The microprocessor maker Intel was fined 1.060 billion euros after the commission the European Union has, between 2002 and 2007, declared a strategy to exclude from its market its only real competitor, AMD. European Justice decided to re-examine the case in September
4. Qualcomm (January 2018)
The US electronics giant Qualcomm received in January a fine of 997 million euros for bribing Apple to use only its products and not its competitors on its iPhones and iPads [19659002] 5. Microsoft (2004)
In 2004, the Microsoft computer group was fined 497 million euros for refusing to provide complete technical documentation to its competitors so that they could design programs fully compatible with the Windows operating system. He has also been accused of linking his Windows Media Player to this system to outperform the competition. By failing to honor its commitments to the EU executive, Brussels imposed another fine of 860 million euros in 2008. In total, the sanctions imposed on Microsoft by the Commission rise to 2 billion euros. euros
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