Google wants to stay the effects of its Epic antitrust ruling pending an appeal

Google has officially applied [PDF] is asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to temporarily suspend an order forcing the company to open up the Play Store to competitors. If you’ll recall, Google lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games after a judge found that the company had engaged in illegal activities in the distribution of the app and in-app payment services for Android devices. Earlier this month, US District Judge James Donato ordered Google to allow third-party app stores access to the Google Play app catalog and make those stores downloadable on its storefront. Now, Google is asking a court to stay that order while it appeals the Epic antitrust ruling, saying it would expose 100 million Android users in the US to “significant security risks.”

The company called the order “dangerous and unjustified” and said that if allowed to stand, it would threaten Google’s ability to “provide a safe and reliable user experience.” It argues that if it makes third-party app stores available for download on Google Play, people may think the company endorses them, which could raise “real risks of patronage”. [its] users.” Those app stores can have “less robust protections,” Google explained, which could expose users to dangerous and malicious apps.

It also said that giving third-party stores access to the Google Play catalog could hurt businesses that don’t want their products to be found near inappropriate or malicious content. Giving third-party stores access to their entire library would give “malicious” stores a “legitimate place.” In addition, it argues that allowing developers to link to their apps “creates a greater risk of malicious links,” as bad actors can use this feature in phishing attacks to compromise users’ devices and steal their data.

One of the main changes proposed by the court is to allow developers to remove Google Play billing as an option, allowing them to offer their apps to Android users without having to pay the company a commission. However, Google said that by allowing developers to remove its payment system, “it could force an option that may not have the protections and features that users expect.”

In its filing, Google emphasized that the three weeks the court gave it to make these major changes was too short for a “Herculean task.” It creates an “unacceptable security risk” that could lead to serious problems affecting the performance of users’ Android devices, it said. The company also questioned why the court sided with Epic in its antitrust case, while it sided with Apple in a similar case filed by the video game company. “It is cause for pause that Apple, which requires all applications to go through its App Store, is not alone, but Google – which is building a choice in the Android operating system so that device makers can pre-install and users can download application stores competitive – doomed by monopolization.”