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Journalism of Courage
Search major Google has moved the Delhi High Court against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over the leak of a report entailing allegations of abuse of dominance in the Android smartphone market. The probe by the investigative arm of the CCI had concluded that Google had “restricted” the ability of manufacturers to develop and reportedly sell alternative versions of its Android operating system.
Google has moved to the high court protesting against the leak of the report claiming that the leak impairs the company’s ability to defend itself. An investigative report by the Director General of the CCI does not constitute final orders by the CCI and is reviewed by members of the CCI before the regulator passes any final orders which could include penalties.
Google said it was “protesting against the breach of confidence which impairs Google’s ability to defend itself and harms Google and its partners,” in an official statement. The company added that it had “cooperated fully and maintained confidentiality throughout the investigative process,” and expected the “same level of confidentiality” from the CCI.
The CCI had in April 2019 ordered an investigation into the conduct of Google in the smartphone market over allegations that agreements that Google required smartphone manufacturers to sign to pre-install google play store restricted the ability of manufacturers to develop and sell alternative versions of android.
The commission had also noted that a requirement by Google that any manufacturer pre-installing the google play store on their devices also pre-install the entire suite of google apps was also prima facie a violation of competition law. Google is also facing a similar antitrust probe for its conduct in the smart television market.
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