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The
case has been tangled up in courts since the European Commission
announced the fine in 2018. But the European Court of Justice
dismissal on Thursday marks the end of that process.
“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet
against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby
confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a
dominant position in the context of the Android operating
system,” the Luxembourg-based judges wrote in their ruling.
Google previously argued free and open-source Android has
resulted in low-cost phones and driven competition with its
chief rival, Apple. Android is the most popular mobile operating
system, beating even Apple’s iOS.
The fine is one of three antitrust penalties totaling more than
$8 billion that the European Commission slapped on Google
between 2017 and 2019, putting the 27-nation bloc at the
forefront of the global push to rein in tech giants.
Since then, the commission has widened its crackdown on digital
giants with more antitrust investigations targeting Amazon,
Apple and Facebook and sweeping new rules aimed at clamping down
on the biggest digital companies.
Agustín Reyna, director general of the European Consumer
Organization, welcomed the court’s ruling and said the EU needs
more regulation akin to the Digital Markets Act to “nip unfair
practices in the bud” and protect consumers.
“Today’s judgment sends a very clear message: dominant companies
cannot use their power to shut out competition and limit
consumer choice,” Reyna said. “Today is a big win for Europe.”
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