India is Investigating Google Over Alleged Android Abuse

More than 95 percent of the smartphones that ship in India run Android operating system, according to industry estimates. Now the Indian antitrust watchdog is convinced that the nation should investigate if Google is abusing the dominant position of its mobile operating system to hurt local rivals. From a report: The Competition Commission of India (CCI), the local antimonopoly regulator, began looking at Google's Android business in India last year after it received a complaint from unspecified people. In mid-April, the regulator decided that there was merit in the accusations and ordered its investigation unit to conduct a full-investigation, according to a report by Reuters, which cites unnamed sources. In a statement to TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson said that it looks forward to working with the CCI on the probe. "Android has enabled millions of Indians to connect to the internet by making mobile devices more affordable. We look forward to working with the Competition Commission of India to demonstrate how Android has led to more competition and innovation, not less."

After the EU squeeze

[guruevi]

I think a lot of other poor countries are likewise looking into how to squeeze cash out of the big media and technology conglomerates. Google and co should've never paid the special taxes and gone to the UN or IMF/world bank to have their case adjudicated.

Re:

[Z00L00K]

Android may be open source but the devices/phones you would like to install your own build on are so locked down that it's ridiculous.

Of course you can build on a Raspberry Pi or something, but it's going to be a bit clunky as a phone.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

True enough, but that's a problem with the phone/device manufacturers, not Google. So why is India investigating Google instead of going after said manufacturers making phones so locked down that you can't install your own build?

Re: After the EU squeeze

[cyber-vandal]

The EU squeeze? What was that then?

Re:

[thegarbz]

I think a lot of other poor countries are likewise looking into how to squeeze cash out of the big media and technology conglomerates. Google and co should've never paid the special taxes and gone to the UN or IMF/world bank to have their case adjudicated.

You mean after Google paid a fine for breaking an EU law in a specific way, other countries realise that actually American companies are only considered above the law in America and also look to see if laws are being broken in their country?

It took a bit to translate your ramblings into something that made sense, but yeah I fully agree. One day America should follow suit.

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[bob4u2c]

I would say this is the case. India has a history of inviting companies in to setup business, bring in expertise, then just as things are gearing up they throw a whole bunch of regulations on them to kill it (see Amazon for example). I would not want to start a business there as an outsider for this exact reason. I doubt this is an investigation, its more like an excuse to tell Google, thanks for the tech, now get out. Oh and you need to pay a fine out the way out. How long will this continue before th

India isn't poor - this is a shakedown

[sjbe]

I think a lot of other poor countries are likewise looking into how to squeeze cash out of the big media and technology conglomerates.

India isn't a poor country. They have a GDP of $2.5 trillion. Yes there are poor people in India but the country itself is one of the 10 largest economies [wikipedia.org] in the world.

I think what is going on here can be adequately explained by India being chock full of corruption and graft. If you have ever had to do business there (I have) you will quickly find out that there are lots of palms to grease and they aren't particularly shy about it. It should surprise no one that the government likes to get involved in s

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[Highdude702]

But wont you think of the Robots! They are defenseless without our help.
  #FreeTheAndroids

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[jwymanm]

Glad this was brought up. So many people sided with the EU because "bid bad company." But when India does it ohh no it's a bad thing/money grab now! Really what is going on is that people are satisfied with Android, a java-ish system built on the linux kernel, provided for free. To match this you have to be as big as Google and have the years Google has had in developing it without money in return other than ad revenue. Any company can even use Android to compete against Android.. the only thing Google cont

"abusing position of mobile to hurt local rivals"

[JoeyRox]

What local rivals does Android have in India?

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[jellomizer]

What rives does Android have anywhere other then iOS?

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[unixisc]

Precisely!!! India is nothing if not at least a decade too late. Had they perked up when Windows Phone/Mobile was still around, they'd have been in a better position to ensure that Google didn't have a monopoly. Apple has been picking up in India the last few years, but more as a status symbol: most Indians can't afford even iPhones a few generations behind.

Their attempts to regulate Amazon or Facebook have some merit, since there is at least competition to those entities. But trying to challenge Andr

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[cascadingstylesheet]

What local rivals does Android have in India?

Exactly! And obviously, this is why there aren't any!

-Joe Facetious Circularlogic

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[unixisc]

But it's not like phone OEMs have an option: they can't install iOS on their phones even if they wanted to. There was Windows Phone/Mobile, but it had a poor reception in the market, and precious few apps. All they have is Android, and it's more a case of the upgradeability of the OS, and the upgrades themselves. Some phones or tablets rarely get upgraded, while others are better in that regard

In India, where carriers don't sell the phones, there ain't too many carrier specific apps that are there on p

I like abusing androids!

[MobyDisk]

India is Investigating Google Over Alleged Android Abuse

The nice thing about abusing androids is that you can program them to like it.

Re:

[Z00L00K]

So is every alternative too. Just pick your poison.

Will be interesting to see what comes of this...

[aicrules]

I wouldn't want to have to understand all the rules and regulations of every country in the world enough to know how to not break the law. Though I realize Google has enough lawyers to do this, what constitutes anti-trust is already complicated enough one country at a time. That said, I'm sure Google purposely walked the line of what they felt the definition was in India, so it's not really a surprise that someone would file a credible complaint.

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[unixisc]

But if Google is playing in a market where they have practically no rivals, how does it work? Blackberry and Windows Phone are dead, iOS is just available from Apple, and only on devices too expensive that price out most Indians, so Android is the only game in town. One could probably go to Amazon for alternative Android devices, but not sure that that gives people the alternatives they want

What they should investigate

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

What they should investigate are the hundreds of thousands of India-based phone scammers who call trying to trick people out of credit card numbers and other information.

Gross!

[celeb8]

Keep your tentacles out of my android

Re:

[unixisc]

They need to reverse that policy, or else, they'll have the same problem that Western countries and Japan have - an aging population, w/ not enough working age people to support the entire population

Probably a shake down

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Once Google plays nice to Reliance Jio cell phone network and the investigation will peter out... Unless Modi loses the coming election. In that case all bribes^H^H^H^H concessions to the Ambanis are null and void and you need to take care of Hindujas and Sam Pitroda.

Curry OS

[Zorro]

They are just trying to curry favor for the local Curry OS a locally pirated version of Palm OS. But it tastes really good with chutney!