Politico reports that attorneys general representing 36 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google over its Google Play Store fees. [PDF]
The suit, filed in California federal court and led by Utah, North Carolina, Tennessee, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska is just the latest in a series of antitrust moves against big tech firms. The states are in a snit over Google’s plan to begin enforcing a rule that requires Google Play Store developers to pay a 30% cut of the action on sales of digital goods and services. Google plans to begin enforcing the rule in September.
While Google has long had this rule, it was not strictly enforcing it. Google announced last year that it would begin enforcing the rule in 2021.
Google’s move puts it on equal footing with Apple’s App Store, which requires developers to pay a 15% to 30% fee from app purchases and in-app purchases and subscriptions.