Google Counters EU Attack on Its Mobile Money-Making Machine
- Search giant challenges $5 billion fine, order over Android
- Victory for Google could hamper regulators’ big-tech crusade
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Google lashed out in court at the European Union regulators who levied a record-breaking $5 billion fine and imposed an antitrust order that struck at the heart of the U.S. tech giant’s ability to make money.
The search giant’s power over mobile phones is the focus of a week-long hearing at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg. Google’s lawyers said the European Commission blundered by demanding changes to allegedly anti-competitive contracts with suppliers of phones running its Android operating system -- the engine room for the vast majority of mobile devices in the region.