A U.S. federal judge rebuffs the antitrust lawsuit laying the blame on Google forcing Android handset makers to make it a default app of android operating systems thereby giving plaintiffs three weeks to amend their complaint.
The consumers stated that Google allegedly necessitated the manufacturers of android device to favor its own apps on the android-based handsets and restrict the accessibility of Microsoft’s brainchild Bing.
The petitioner also alleged Google to be the cause of phone pricing as a result of its restrictive contracts with the handset maker’s whereby this conduct of Google throttle the innovation of its rivals as well.
But U.S. district judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled that the petitioners failed to prove the link that the phone pricing stemmed from Google’s restrictive contract with the handset’s producer. She further noted that “there are no facts alleged to indicate that defendant’s conduct has prevented consumers from freely choosing among search products or prevented competitors from innovating.”
Although the plaintiffs have been given three weeks to amend their complaint, but this victory indeed is a sigh of relief for Google, considering how Russian search engine yandex has recently filed a complaint against it. Yandex has asked Russian federal antimonopoly service (RFAS) to investigate against Google for the alleged violations of Russian antitrust law.
