More from Epic v. Google: everything we learned in Fortnite court
That’s according to Google’s head of Android security, David Kleidermacher, who is publicly pushing back on the claims made by Epic Games in its new lawsuit against Google and Samsung.
Earlier, Samsung said it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
Google, too, wouldn’t confirm or deny whether it worked with Samsung on the feature, which is now the target of a new Epic Games lawsuit against both companies.
Instead, Google tells The Verge that it’s “a meritless lawsuit”; Samsung tells us it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
Epic is suing Google — again — and now Samsung, too
We want our kids to grow up in a world that’s better than this one. I grew up in an awesome world for developers and opportunity, the early days of Apple II computers and PCs, and anybody growing up, coming of age in this industry right now, is best case going to be an Apple and Google serf. That has to change. That must change.
Not surprising to hear the man behind “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” say this, but it really does encapsulate his war with the tech industry. More on the latest lawsuit here.
It’s exactly what you’d expect after the Fortnite maker said it was entitled to everything and a bag of chips due to its antitrust victory in federal court. Google wants Judge James Donato to think different:
“Epic’s demands would harm the privacy, security, and overall experience of consumers, developers, and device manufacturers. Not only does their proposal go far beyond the scope of the recent U.S. trial verdict – which we will be challenging – it’s also unnecessary due to the settlement we reached last year with State Attorneys General from every state and multiple territories.”
We’ll find out exactly how Android and the Google Play Store will change in a hearing that begins on May 23rd.
[DocumentCloud]
Xu Yuan, a friendly courtroom reporter for MLex that I sat with regularly during the trial, managed to obtain an interview with one of the Epic v. Google jurors — who confirmed that Google’s deleted chats affected their decision.
That same juror found Tim Sweeney “very honest” and more credible than Google’s CEO.
An interview with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.
In case you’re wondering why Tim Sweeney was thanking jurors on behalf of 1 million developers... it’s part of this blog post, too.
We plan to challenge the verdict. Android and Google Play provide more choice and openness than any other major mobile platform. The trial made clear that we compete fiercely with Apple and its App Store, as well as app stores on Android devices and gaming consoles. We will continue to defend the Android business model and remain deeply committed to our users, partners, and the broader Android ecosystem. - Wilson White, VP, Government Affairs & Public Policy
That’s not surprising: a jury gave Epic a total victory today.
“Victory over Google! After 4 weeks of detailed court testimony, the California jury found against the Google Play monopoly on all counts. The Court’s work on remedies will start in January. Thanks for everyone’s support and faith! Free Fortnite!”
The jury is all smiles. “The one million game developers who couldn’t be here thank you,” says Sweeney, as they head into the elevator and down out of the courthouse.
He thanked Google’s lead attorney Glenn Pomerantz “for being very professional” and clapped Epic’s lead attorney Gary Bornstein on the back.
Attorneys for both sides will meet with the judge in the second week of January to discuss next steps.
Stand by... attorneys and journalists have filed back into the courtroom. We’re waiting for the judge and jury now.
Bornstein asked the jury to carefully read the jury instructions because Google apparently cherry-picked a sentence to point out to them earlier. He also asked them to consider whether Google tried to nip competition in the bud before it could ever emerge.
The jury filed out, the judge thanked both parties for preparing the case well and arguing it efficiently... and now, we’re done until there’s a verdict! It sounds like the jury will eat lunch before beginning deliberations, so I should have time to grab some food as well.
Epic is getting eight minutes of rebuttal to Google’s closing argument, and lead attorney Gary Bornstein is using part of it to argue this: we should look at the internal documents in this case to see what’s actually going on.
“What did they say in their documents? That tells you what they believed in the real world.”
He begins by showing one of the emails Google showed us about reacting to an Apple change in price — and that Google chose not to follow that price change at the time.
“They chose not to change their price despite believing that Apple was changing theirs,” he says, and “during that time not a single developer pulled out of the Play Store to focus on iOS.”
Kravis says it’s a “reliable and efficient way to collect the fee” to tie it to its own billing system — which is why every other app and game platform does it the same way, he claims.
But unlike Epic, it’s using red X’s instead of check marks on its visual aids.
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