By Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) -Google has asked a federal judge in California to pause its sweeping court order requiring Google to open its App Store Play to more competition.
In a court filing Friday evening, Google said U.S. District Judge James Donato’s order, which takes effect Nov. 1, would harm the company and “introduce serious safety, security and privacy risks to the Android ecosystem.”
The tech giant, a unit of Alphabet (NASDAQ:), asked Donato to stay the order while it appeals.
The judge issued the order on Oct. 7 in a case brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, which last year convinced a federal jury that Google illegally monopolized how consumers download apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions.
The judge’s ruling states that Google must allow users within Play to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores and can no longer ban the use of competing in-app payment methods. It also bans Google from making payments to device makers to pre-install the app store and from sharing Play Store revenue with other app distributors.
If Donato rejects Google’s bid to stay the injunction, the company could ask the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to do so while it appeals the jury’s underlying antitrust verdict.
Google filed its appeal with the 9th Circuit on Thursday. Ultimately, the appeals court would have to consider Google’s challenge to Donato’s order.
