Epic v. Google: everything we learned in Fortnite court
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Epic’s economist Steve Tadelis concedes that Google would get paid nothing to distribute apps if developers choose alternative payment processors — all other things staying the same.
(Historically and currently, Google only charges when a developer charges for an app or an in-app purchase, something it’s brought up repeatedly during the trial — it’s the “we only get paid when you get paid” argument, and I personally find it moderately compelling.)
Google’s making a host of other little points right now, alleging that Braintree is only available in a handful of countries, Square isn’t available in some big countries like Germany and India, PayPal fees vary across countries, and Tadelis gets paid $1,200 an hour plus a revenue share of his own. (Yes, another paid-to-be-here card played by Google, though Tadelis tells me afterward he wasn’t paid by Google to present his research but, rather, to testify. I’ll try to figure out the nuance later, but he’s not contesting he was paid for his work.)
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