Google will challenge the decision on the complaint of "Yandex" and lead 5 arguments in favor of their innocence: the comments of the parties
Google does not agree with the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) on the complaint of "Yandex" about the violation of antitrust laws. This concerns Google’s dominance in the market for pre-installed Android app stores.
Tero Luco, Google’s competition adviser, was skeptical about the antitrust case against Google: “Russia opened and closed the case for 3 months. I decided in just 15 minutes, ”while at the FAS they then calculated that Google spent at least 12 hours at the meetings.
“We intend to challenge this decision and explain in court why we consider it unfounded,” Google said.
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Lawyers of the company allocate 5 main arguments in favor of her innocence.
1. Google representatives claim that mobile device manufacturers are not required to install company applications on the Android platform. For example, mobile devices of the brands ZTE , Xiaomi , Gionee , which run on Android, do not pre-install applications from the Google package.
They also remind that Yandex concluded contracts for the pre-installation of its services with manufacturers who also did not install Google applications on their devices. Google cites data from the App Annie analytical company, according to which, from March to June 2015, Yandex’s mobile apps ranked second in the number of downloads (both in the AppStore and Google Play).
2. Android is a free platform, in particular, because it allows users to download applications through a platform-linked store, as well as through third-party sites and stores. Such a choice is not on other operating platforms, noted in Google.
3. Representatives of the company also argue that the pre-installation of applications from the package of Google Mobile Services ( GMS ) does not impose a ban on the installation of applications from other developers. For example, owners of Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones get both Google applications and competitors' applications. The GMS package includes the Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Hangouts, and Chrome browsers.
4. Installing the Google Play store opens up access to 1 million Android apps. Therefore, the user only benefits from this.
5. Immediately after the purchase, users receive a "fully functional device" with all the necessary applications.
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The company has the right to appeal the decision of the FAS, but the presence of such a possibility does not mean that it will be canceled or revised, explained RBC head of the international legal practice of the Bar of Chaadaev, Kheifets and partners Anastasia Astashkevich.
To cancel the FAS decision, Google will have to provide substantial evidence that the violation itself did not take place, but so far the company's arguments, according to the published statement, have not undergone significant changes, which puts the possibility of the FAS decision’s cancellation in question, says the lawyer.
“Given that similar claims against Google are now being considered by antimonopoly authorities in Europe, one can say that the prospects for appeals are not the best,” she adds.
On September 14, the head of the FAS information technology department, Vladimir Kudryavtsev, said that the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service had declared Google a violator of anti-monopoly legislation.
FAS recognized that Google is forcing mobile device manufacturers to pre-install applications from the GMS package by placing the icons of these applications on the first screen of a mobile device. The company also requires you to select Google as the default search as a condition for installing the Google Play store. This store, in turn, is necessary for the operation of the Android operating system, also owned by Google.
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the violator of the law “On protection of competition” is threatened with a so-called negotiable fine. “A decision was made to declare Google’s actions a violation of Article 10 § 1“ On protection of competition, ”said Kudryavtsev. According to this article, the offending company is obliged to pay a fine in the amount of 1-15% of the company's revenue on the market in which the violation was committed, over the past year.
However, the FAS has not yet determined the amount of the fine. As explained RBC in the press service of the department, the administrative case, during which they will have to determine the size of the punishment, has not yet been filed. A source close to the FAS, noted that the agency is waiting for the company to fulfill the order to determine the severity of punishment. Earlier, the head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, said that the fine could be set to a minimum if Google fulfilled the order and changed the terms of contracts with manufacturers of mobile devices.
FAS Russia demanded from Google to eliminate the violation of the law "On Protection of Competition" until November 18. As required by the regulator, the terms of cooperation with manufacturers of mobile devices must be changed - the obligations of partners to install third-party applications must be removed from the contract.
On November 9, Megamind wrote that FAS went to meet Google and extended the period by a month during which the company must eliminate the violation of the law. The term is extended until December 18th. Interfax, citing a representative of the FAS, reported that the delay was granted "due to the technical difficulties of execution in such a short period of time."
In late September, Bloomberg also reported that the US authorities, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, launched an investigation into Google’s activities on the Android OS.
The European Commission is investigating the work of Google on Android since 2013 on the basis of a complaint of Fair Search Alliance, which unites Microsoft , Nokia , Oracle , Expedia , TripAdvisor, and others.
On November 13, it became known that in April 2015, Yandex submitted its own application to the European Commission, becoming the prosecutor in a Google case. Since July 2014, the Russian company has collaborated with the European regulator as a witness.
Tero Luco, Google’s competition adviser, was skeptical about the antitrust case against Google: “Russia opened and closed the case for 3 months. I decided in just 15 minutes, ”while at the FAS they then calculated that Google spent at least 12 hours at the meetings.
“We intend to challenge this decision and explain in court why we consider it unfounded,” Google said.
')
Lawyers of the company allocate 5 main arguments in favor of her innocence.
1. Google representatives claim that mobile device manufacturers are not required to install company applications on the Android platform. For example, mobile devices of the brands ZTE , Xiaomi , Gionee , which run on Android, do not pre-install applications from the Google package.
They also remind that Yandex concluded contracts for the pre-installation of its services with manufacturers who also did not install Google applications on their devices. Google cites data from the App Annie analytical company, according to which, from March to June 2015, Yandex’s mobile apps ranked second in the number of downloads (both in the AppStore and Google Play).
2. Android is a free platform, in particular, because it allows users to download applications through a platform-linked store, as well as through third-party sites and stores. Such a choice is not on other operating platforms, noted in Google.
3. Representatives of the company also argue that the pre-installation of applications from the package of Google Mobile Services ( GMS ) does not impose a ban on the installation of applications from other developers. For example, owners of Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones get both Google applications and competitors' applications. The GMS package includes the Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Hangouts, and Chrome browsers.
4. Installing the Google Play store opens up access to 1 million Android apps. Therefore, the user only benefits from this.
5. Immediately after the purchase, users receive a "fully functional device" with all the necessary applications.
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FAS comment
For the time being, we can judge their intentions from information in open sources, in particular, in the official blog of Google Russia. Mr. Tero Luco (senior lawyer of the company) wrote what theses they are going to fight for, which does not suit them in our decision. It is possible that in court they will unfold more fully, but at first glance they are in no way connected with the essence of imputed violations of Google.
For now, it seems that we are talking about completely different things. Our solution was to eliminate the violation of the law on the protection of competition in terms of promotion of some services at the expense of others, that is, linking the service is more than popular as the Android operating system with less popular services that have a large number of competitors - these are Google applications ... We are ready to defend our decision ... We hope that there are some more essential points on which our decision is going to appeal.
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Comment "Yandex"
Yandex is confident in every point of its position. We are ready to appeal and welcome the most open proceedings. Google's words are out of business. The company declares freedom of choice, and in fact introduces direct prohibitions in agreements with manufacturers. The openness of Android is a myth. Without Google Play it is impossible to release popular devices on Android, and you can get Google Play only by agreeing to the terms of Google. This is not freedom, but an illusion of choice.
You can be a big player, you can bundle your services in one package. Individually, it may not violate the law. But when a major player promotes other services through the dominant Google Play product, this is an abuse of dominant position.
Who will win
The company has the right to appeal the decision of the FAS, but the presence of such a possibility does not mean that it will be canceled or revised, explained RBC head of the international legal practice of the Bar of Chaadaev, Kheifets and partners Anastasia Astashkevich.
To cancel the FAS decision, Google will have to provide substantial evidence that the violation itself did not take place, but so far the company's arguments, according to the published statement, have not undergone significant changes, which puts the possibility of the FAS decision’s cancellation in question, says the lawyer.
“Given that similar claims against Google are now being considered by antimonopoly authorities in Europe, one can say that the prospects for appeals are not the best,” she adds.
Background
On September 14, the head of the FAS information technology department, Vladimir Kudryavtsev, said that the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service had declared Google a violator of anti-monopoly legislation.
FAS recognized that Google is forcing mobile device manufacturers to pre-install applications from the GMS package by placing the icons of these applications on the first screen of a mobile device. The company also requires you to select Google as the default search as a condition for installing the Google Play store. This store, in turn, is necessary for the operation of the Android operating system, also owned by Google.
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the violator of the law “On protection of competition” is threatened with a so-called negotiable fine. “A decision was made to declare Google’s actions a violation of Article 10 § 1“ On protection of competition, ”said Kudryavtsev. According to this article, the offending company is obliged to pay a fine in the amount of 1-15% of the company's revenue on the market in which the violation was committed, over the past year.
However, the FAS has not yet determined the amount of the fine. As explained RBC in the press service of the department, the administrative case, during which they will have to determine the size of the punishment, has not yet been filed. A source close to the FAS, noted that the agency is waiting for the company to fulfill the order to determine the severity of punishment. Earlier, the head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, said that the fine could be set to a minimum if Google fulfilled the order and changed the terms of contracts with manufacturers of mobile devices.
FAS Russia demanded from Google to eliminate the violation of the law "On Protection of Competition" until November 18. As required by the regulator, the terms of cooperation with manufacturers of mobile devices must be changed - the obligations of partners to install third-party applications must be removed from the contract.
On November 9, Megamind wrote that FAS went to meet Google and extended the period by a month during which the company must eliminate the violation of the law. The term is extended until December 18th. Interfax, citing a representative of the FAS, reported that the delay was granted "due to the technical difficulties of execution in such a short period of time."
In late September, Bloomberg also reported that the US authorities, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice, launched an investigation into Google’s activities on the Android OS.
The European Commission is investigating the work of Google on Android since 2013 on the basis of a complaint of Fair Search Alliance, which unites Microsoft , Nokia , Oracle , Expedia , TripAdvisor, and others.
On November 13, it became known that in April 2015, Yandex submitted its own application to the European Commission, becoming the prosecutor in a Google case. Since July 2014, the Russian company has collaborated with the European regulator as a witness.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/296438/
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