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Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday was summoned to federal court for the second time in two weeks to testify in an antitrust trial threatening to topple a pillar of an internet empire that he helped build. In his latest court appearance in San Francisco, Pichai spent more than two hours defending the business practices of the Google Play Store, which distributes apps for the company's Android software that powers most of the world's smartphones. Evidence submitted during Pichai's Tuesday testimony showed just how lucrative the Play Store has been for Google. During the first half of 2020, for instance, the Play Store generated an operating profit of $4.4 billion. “The way we designed Google Play is we do well only when developers do well,” Pichai said.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Department's, Lauren Moskowitz, District Judge James Donato, Donato, Moskowitz, Apple, ”, specter, ” Pichai Organizations: Google, Apple, Washington D.C, ., District, Samsung, Android, U.S, Supreme Locations: San Francisco, Washington, iPhones, U.S

The case targeting Google's Play Store is being brought by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, which lost in a similar 2021 trial focused on many of the same issues in Apple's iPhone app store. Match is receiving $40 million and adopting Google's “user choice billing" system in its settlement. The terms of the resolution with the state attorneys general is expected to be revealed during Google's trial with Epic. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney skewered the “user choice billing” option as a sham in a social media post vowing to fight Google in court. Wilson White, Google's vice president of government affairs and public policy, accused Epic of trying to get “something for nothing” in a blog post.

Persons: District Judge James Donato, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Google’s, U.S . Justice Department’s, Donato, Google's, Tim Sweeney skewered, Sweeney, Wilson White, White, ” Organizations: FRANCISCO, Google, Epic Games, Apple, U.S, Supreme, Android, District, Inc, Washington D.C, U.S ., Match Group Locations: San Francisco federal, U.S, Washington

☆ 'Fortnite' maker Epic Games is battling Google in court over app-store fees 2 years after largely losing a similar case against Apple
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A jury will decide if Google Play has been illegally driving up prices for consumers and developers. Epic Games, the maker of the popular "Fortnite" video game, brought the case against Google. Google recently resolved a case being pursued by the owner of Tinder and other online dating services. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe case targeting Google's Play Store is being brought by Epic Games, the maker of the popular "Fortnite" video game, which largely lost in a similar 2021 trial focused on many of the same issues in Apple's iPhone app store. The terms of the resolution with the state attorneys general is expected to be revealed during Google's trial with Epic.

Persons: —, District Judge James Donato, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Google's, U.S . Justice Department's, Donato, Tim Sweeney skewered, Sweeney, Wilson White, White Organizations: Epic, Google, Service, U.S, District, Inc, Washington D.C, U.S ., Epic Games, Apple, Supreme, Android, Match Group Locations: San Francisco federal, Washington, U.S

☆ Alphabet, Match settle Google Play antitrust claims before US trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Mike Scarcella | Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret Hilse//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 31 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O)'s Google has settled claims by dating app developer Match Group that it monopolized Android app distribution with its Play Store, leaving “Fortnite” maker Epic Games as the sole plaintiff in an antitrust trial against Google set to begin Nov. 6. Match said in a filing in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday that it had resolved its allegations against Google. In a statement, Google said it was “pleased to reach a settlement agreement with Match Group.” Google also recently settled related antitrust claims from U.S. states and consumers for undisclosed terms. Epic and Match accused Google of maintaining an unlawful monopoly in the distribution of Android apps. Google is separately facing U.S. and state antitrust allegations in other U.S. courts over its advertising technology business and its dominance in the web search industry.

Persons: Annegret, “, District Judge James Donato, Tim Sweeney, Mike Scarcella, David Bario, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Google, Arena, REUTERS, Epic, Match, U.S, District, Apple, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, San Francisco federal, U.S, San Francisco

☆ US judge set to decertify Google Play class action
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —A US judge plans to free Google from having to defend against a class action by 21 million consumers who claimed it violated federal antitrust law by overcharging them in its Google Play app store. Monday’s decision by US District Judge James Donato in San Francisco could significantly reduce damages that Google, a unit of Alphabet, might owe over the distribution of Android mobile applications. The judge said he couldn’t decertify the class immediately because Google had been appealing his November order. The class action included consumers from 12 US states and five territories, who were not part of a similar case against Google brought by various state attorneys general. The case is In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, US District Court, Northern District of California, No.

Persons: overcharging, James Donato, Donato, couldn’t Organizations: CNN, Google, US, Consumers, District of Columbia, Epic, Court, Northern District of Locations: San Francisco, Northern District, Northern District of California

A trial in the copyright infringement case had been set to begin on Monday. YouTube and Schneider agreed to end the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. YouTube denied the allegations and said it goes "above and beyond" to protect copyrights. In a win for YouTube, U.S. District Judge James Donato last month refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action. The case is Schneider v. YouTube LLC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

Persons: Maria Schneider, Schneider's, Schneider, District Judge James Donato, Joshua Schiller, Philip Korologos, Boies Schiller, George Zelcs, Stephen Tillery, David Kramer, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich, Rosati Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: YouTube, Schneider's San, District, Northern, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: Schneider's San Francisco, infringers, U.S, Northern District, Northern District of California, Washington

In the data privacy case, Google has said its Chrome browser users consented to the company's data collection. The sanction in the data privacy action is not the first time Van Keulen has punished Google in the same case. The new sanctions order and the prior one from May 2022 addressed internal Google evidence concerning consumer use of the company's private browsing mode. Google, according to the judge's order, will be barred from relying on certain employee witnesses in the case. Van Keulen also said Google must pay fees associated with two experts working for the plaintiffs, and must also pay a $79,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco said in his order that Google "fell strikingly short" in its duties to preserve records. Separately, the plaintiffs will have a chance to urge Donato to tell jurors that Google destroyed information that was unfavorable to it. The lawyers said Google was deleting chat records every 24 hours and "did so even after this litigation commenced." Google is separately fighting claims in a U.S. Justice Department antitrust case in Washington, D.C., federal court of destroyed chat records. The case is In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

The case involves a group of consumers who contend Facebook exploited user data to maintain its market power. Representatives for Quinn Emanuel and Facebook declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Hagens Berman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Scarlett in recent court filings said Quinn Emanuel was not respecting her view as a leading antitrust attorney based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the claim, saying it has "worked very hard to be cooperative with all counsel on the case, including female counsel." Donato started the appointment process from scratch in January amid quarreling between Seattle-based plaintiffs' firm Hagens Berman and 900-lawyer Quinn Emanuel.

Part of the clash included a Hagens Berman partner accusing Quinn Emanuel of discounting her views based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the allegation, calling it a "mystery." The two law firms on Friday night submitted their pitches to Donato about why he should appoint them solely rather than jointly to lead the consumer class. A representative from Hagens Berman did not immediately comment, and a Quinn Emanuel spokesperson declined to comment. Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel have been on opposite sides in other cases.

☆ Laid-off Twitter workers have been forced to drop their class-action lawsuit demanding more severance pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The five laid-off workers had signed arbitration agreements agreeing not to bring suits against Twitter. "Twitter provided signed copies of the agreements, and they are all clear and straightforward," Donato wrote in the order. Since Elon Musk took ownership of the company in late October, Twitter has laid off thousands of workers. Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney representing the laid-off Twitter workers, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of regular working hours. She said that she had already filed 500 individual arbitration demands, with more to come.

☆ Twitter’s laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit, judge says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter (TWTR) has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration rather than a class-action lawsuit. US District Judge James Donato on Friday ruled that five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before laying them off after its acquisition by Elon Musk must pursue their claims in private arbitration. Donato granted Twitter’s request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company. The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file hundreds more. Those workers all claim they have not received the full severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over.

☆ Twitter's laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter Inc has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration than a class-action lawsuit. Donato granted Twitter's request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company. The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file hundreds more. Those workers all claim they have not received the full severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over. The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them "a succinct and plainly worded notice".

☆ Twitter's laid-off workers asked to drop lawsuit over severance, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration than a class-action lawsuit. Donato granted Twitter's request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company. The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them "a succinct and plainly worded notice". Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, the world's richest person, and hundreds more subsequently resigned. The lawsuit says Twitter failed to give the 60 days notice required by federal and California laws before engaging in mass layoffs. Donato in the ruling said asking workers to waive legal claims against Twitter without telling them about the lawsuit would be misleading. Twitter had agreed not to seek releases from laid-off workers pending Donato's decision. The lawsuits accuse Twitter of failing to give contract workers notice before laying them off and discriminating against women and employees with disabilities.

The class members are Google Play Store individual consumers in 12 states, including Ohio, Michigan and Georgia, in addition to American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plaintiffs' lawyers in the newly certified class action are jointly working with those state enforcers. Google has defended its Play Store business practices, denying the claims in the case before Donato and others. In arguing against class-action certification, attorneys for Google said the plaintiffs failed to show how they were harmed, an argument that Donato rejected. The class attorneys allege among other things that Google prohibited app developers from steering customers to competitors and used "misleading warnings to deter customers from downloading apps outside the Google Play Store."

The antitrust plaintiffs' lawyers, Shana Scarlett of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Stephen Swedlow of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, on Monday did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment. A Facebook spokesperson did not immediately comment about whether the settlement might affect the antitrust case. The privacy settlement wrapped up allegations that Facebook continued to track users' web activity despite being logged out of the site. Facebook denied the privacy claims, and the company is fighting the allegations in the antitrust case. In the antitrust case, plaintiffs' lawyers at Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart had asked Davila to include a sentence saying the resolution of the privacy settlement doesn't impact the antitrust litigation.

Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing that the ban from Twitter marked "overtly partisan censorship" and was "contrary to First Amendment principles deeply rooted in American history and law." His lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a court order requiring Twitter to "immediately reinstate" his account that was permanently suspended on Jan. 8, 2021. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, and a Twitter spokesperson did not immediately reply. A lawyer for Trump, John Coale in Washington, told Reuters on Monday, "We want him to have the right to get back on" to Twitter. Donato also denied Trump's claim that Twitter was serving as a "state actor" when it banned his account.

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