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BRUSSELS – European regulators sharply criticized another US tech giant on Wednesday, imposing a $ 5 billion record fine on Google to force cell phone manufacturers to use Google's Android operating system .
Although Google can easily afford to pay the fine, the decision could undermine the company's business model, which relies on the abandonment of its operating system in exchange opportunities to sell advertisements and other products. ] Google immediately declared that it would appeal, arguing that its free operating system has led to cheap phones and created competition with its main rival, Apple.
Android has "created more choice for everyone, not less" Pichai tweeted
The fine, which caps a three-year survey, is the biggest ever imposed on a company by the company. 39; EU for anti-competitive behavior. [1965] 9002] It is likely to stir up tensions between Europe and the United States, which regulate the technology industry from a lighter hand and complained that the EU is singling out US companies to punish them.
19659002] Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut tweeted that the fine should be a "warning" to the Federal Trade Commission and "should lead the US authorities to protect consumers." Blumenthal has already asked regulators to investigate how Google follows users.
In its decision, the EU said Google was breaking the rules by forcing mobile phone makers to take a package of Google apps they wanted.
The bundle contains 11 apps, including YouTube, Maps, and Gmail. , but regulators focused on three who had the largest market share: Google Search, Chrome and the company's app store, called Play Store.
The EU gave Google 90 days to find remedies that could w Rival search applications and browsers on more phones. Failure to comply with this rule is punishable by an additional fine of $ 15 million per day
The EU also disputed payments made by Google to wireless phone operators and phone manufacturers to preinstall exclusively the Google Search app. Google broke the law by forcing manufacturers who took its apps to pledge not to sell devices using modified versions of Android.
Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner of Competition, said the fine of 4.34 billion euros was not disproportionate.
This penalty adds to a fine of 2.42 billion euros ($ 2.8 billion) imposed on Google a year ago for promoting its shopping lists in the United States. Search results.
Google's parent company, Alphabet, makes a profit of $ 9.4 billion in the first three months of the year and has more than $ 100 billion in cash reserves.
"The important thing is not to be distracted by the size of the fine.How important is that Google must change its abusive behavior," said Rich Stables, CEO of the competing search engine Kelkoo.
Android is an open-source operating system that Google lets cell phone manufacturers use for free. As a result, it is the most widely used system, beating Apple 's iOS.
The EU wants to make sure that phone manufacturers are free to pre-install the apps of their choice. He also wants mobile phone manufacturers to be able to more easily use modified versions of Android, such as the Amazon Fire operating system.
Google argues that letting manufacturers choose their apps could hurt the main ways to make money via Android. content and applications. Apple, in contrast, derives most of its money from the sale of devices.
Giving phone makers more freedom to use modified versions of Android could also hurt Google. Samsung, a hugely popular manufacturer of Android phones, could, for example, break up and take much of the Android system with it. Samsung has not made any immediate comment.
Daniel Castro, vice president of the Foundation for Information Technology and Innovation, a think tank in Washington, said the decision "is a blow to innovative and open business models source". Complainant against Google was FairSearch, a Brussels-based lobby group that was backed by Oracle, TripAdvisor and Nokia. He called the decision "a milestone in the discipline of Google's abusive behavior." – (AP)
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