An Epic decision

Google’s jury loss signals new antitrust era

Google’s “devastating” antitrust loss against “Fortnite” maker Epic Games this week is a potential game-changer that could open up the Big Tech firm and others to a wave of restructuring, according to one of the company’s most vocal critics.

Matt Stoller, director of research at the antitrust watchdog group American Economic Liberties Project, said the jury’s unanimous verdict that Google maintained an illegal monopoly through its Android app store marked the first time a “really powerful Big Tech firm” had lost a major antitrust case.

“There are going to be appeals and stuff, but over the next five years or so, I suspect that Google is going to start settling. They’re going to start agreeing to split off pieces, because they know they’re going to lose. It’s not worth it. There’s lots of legal uncertainty,” Stoller told journalist Glenn Greenwald on his “System Update” show.

“I know there’s a lot of cynicism, but this is actually how we restructure these companies,” Stoller added. “It’s actually sort of astonishing that it’s working.”

The jury’s decision set a crucial precedent that is likely to influence the proceedings in a series of antitrust battles that CEO Sundar Pichai’s Google and other large companies face, Stoller added.

Google is awaiting a judge’s ruling on the landmark Justice Department case targeting its online search empire, as well as separate probes of its digital advertising and Google Maps businesses.

“Now all of a sudden, the precedent is such that these cowardly judges are going to have to find a reason to rule for Google instead of before, when they had to find a reason to rule against Google,” Stoller said. “I think it’s going to flip all of these cases and it’s going to be much harder for Google to win them.”

The Google v. Epic verdict could upend the business model of the company’s profitable Play store, where it had charged large companies up to 30% on in-app purchases and mandated that they use the company’s billing system.

Google didn’t respond to a request for comment on Stoller’s remarks.

The verdict against CEO Sundar Pichai’s Google in Epic Games’ antitrust suit is a major blow to Silicon Valley monopolies and threatens their biz models, observers say.