FairSearch has filed a complaint against Android with the European Commission that the mobile OS is anti-competitive. The lobby group representing Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle and others says that the below cost distribution of Android gives Google an unfair advantage over other OS manufacturers and that Google tries to obscure these aspects.
“Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data,” said Thomas Vinje, counsel to the FairSearch coalition. “We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market. Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google’s Android operating system.”
A major sticking point is that device manufacturers are required to give default placement to Google apps and services in order to get access to mainstays like Google Maps and YouTube. This gives the Google a degree of control of the data on a majority of mobile phones shipped and sold in the world today.
