SAN FRANCISCO - The maker of hit videogame Fortnite, Epic Games, and Google faced off in federal court in San Francisco as a trial began over whether the internet giant wields monopoly power at its Play Store.
Lawyers began opening remarks to jurors who will hear from witnesses including Google chief executive Sundar Pichai in the weeks ahead.
Epic accused Google of turning its back on the "Don't be Evil" motto touted when the tech firm was founded in 1998.
"Google has relegated its motto to nearly an afterthought, and is using its size to do evil upon competitors, innovators, customers, and users in a slew of markets it has grown to monopolize," Epic argued in legal filings.
Epic sued Google and Apple in 2020, accusing the tech titans of abusing control of their respective shops selling apps and other digital content for mobile devices powered by iOS or Android software.
Google and Apple take percentages of all financial transactions at their app shops, prompting complaints by developers about what has been referred to as an unfair "tax" imposed by the companies.
Apple and Google regularly argue that their app shop commissions are industry-standard, and that they pay for benefits such as reach; transaction security, and ferreting out malware.
Google has adjusted is Play shop to adapt to regulation in Europe.
The issue of alternative payment methods on app marketplaces has been contentious.
Apple lost a legal battle in 2021 in the United States against Epic on the question, but a judge ruled that Apple's control of the App Store was not a monopoly.
Both companies have appealed the verdict.
Epic's court battle against Apple was heard by a judge rather than a jury, with judge's tending to focus on points of law.