By Sarah Parvini, Technology Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Video game maker Epic Games sued Google and Samsung on Monday, accusing the tech companies of coordinating to block third-party competition in application distribution on Samsung devices.
At issue is Samsung’s “Auto Blocker” feature, which only allows for apps from authorized sources, such as the Samsung Galaxy Store or Google Play Store, to be installed. The feature is turned on by default but can be changed in a phone’s settings. The tool prevents the installation of applications from unauthorized sources and blocks “malicious activity,” according to Samsung.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court — Epic’s second against Google — the company said Auto Blocker “is virtually guaranteed to entrench Google’s dominance over Android app distribution.” Epic, developer of the popular game “Fortnite,” filed the suit to prevent Google from “negating the long overdue promise of competition in the Android App Distribution Market,” according to the complaint.
“Allowing this coordinated illegal anti-competitive dealing to proceed hurts developers and consumers and undermines both the jury’s verdict and regulatory and legislative progress around the world,” Epic Games said in a post on its website.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Samsung said it “actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly.”
“The features integrated into our devices are designed in accordance with Samsung’s core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users’ personal data. Users have the choice to disable Auto Blocker at any time,” Samsung said, adding that it plans to “vigorously contest Epic Game’s baseless claims.”
Epic launched its Epic Games Store on iPhones in the European Union and on Android devices worldwide in August. The company claims that it now takes “an exceptionally onerous 21-step process” to download a third-party app outside of the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store. But a support page on Epic’s website shows a four-step process to remove the Auto Blocker setting.
Epic won its first antitrust lawsuit against Google in December after a jury found that Google’s Android app store had been protected by anti-competitive barriers that damaged smartphone consumers and software developers.
The game maker says the “Auto Blocker” feature was intentionally crafted in coordination with Google to preemptively undermine the jury’s verdict in that case.
“Literally no store can compete with the incumbents when disadvantaged in this way,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said on X. “To have true competition, all reputable stores and apps must be free to compete on a level playing field.”
John Ashton, “Beverly Hills Cop” actor, dies at 76
John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the "Beverly Hills Cop" films, has died. He was 76.
Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton's manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. No cause of death was immediately available.
In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including "Midnight Run," "Little Big League" and "Gone Baby Gone."
But in the "Beverly Hills Cop" films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio. Though Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley, a Detroit detective following a case in Los Angeles, was the lead, the two local detectives — Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton's Taggart — were Axel's sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager collaborators.
Of the three, Taggart — "Sarge" to Billy — was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he would regularly be coaxed into Axel's plans. Ashton co-starred in the first two films, beginning with the 1984 original, and returned for the the Netflix reboot, "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," released earlier this year.
Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest's 1988 buddy comedy "Midnight Run." He was the rival bounty hunter also pursuing Charles Grodin's wanted accountant in "The Duke" while he's in the custody of Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh.
Speaking in July to Collider, Ashton recalled auditioning with De Niro.
"Bobby started handing me these matches, and I went to grab the matches, and he threw them on the floor and stared at me," said Ashton. "I looked at the matches, and I looked up, and I said, 'F—- you,' and he said, 'F—- you, too.' I said,... Read More