Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge

Google’s Android app store is an illegal monopoly — and now it will have to change.

Today, Judge James Donato issued his final ruling in Epic v. Google, ordering Google to effectively open up the Google Play app store to competition for three whole years. Google will have to distribute rival third-party app stores within Google Play, and it must give rival third-party app stores access to the full catalog of Google Play apps, unless developers opt out individually. These were Epic’s biggest asks, and they’re not all that Epic has won today.

Judge Donato’s permanent injunction also blocks Google from all sorts of other behavior that was found to be anticompetitive, too — we’re adding full details to this story now.

Starting November…

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