Google asks court for emergency stay as it has just 14 days to enact Major changes to Play Store and …

Google successfully secured an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, temporarily halting sweeping changes to its Android ecosystem that were set to begin within two weeks following Epic Games' second major antitrust victory against the tech giant.The emergency filing revealed Google had just 14 days to implement significant modifications to its Google Play Store operations and business relationships with phonemakers, carriers, and app developers. These changes would have fundamentally altered how Google conducts business across its Android platform, potentially affecting millions of users and over 500,000 app developers.The required changes stem from Judge James Donato's permanent injunction following Epic's successful lawsuit. Key provisions would have forced Google to stop requiring apps to use Google Play Billing, allowing developers to freely direct users to alternative payment methods and app stores. Additionally, Google would have been prohibited from sharing revenue or offering perks to secure exclusive app store arrangements with device manufacturers and carriers.Google argued in its emergency stay request that implementing these changes within 14 days would "expose users and developers to substantial risks and jeopardize the entire Android ecosystem." The company claimed concerns about malware exposure and payment security vulnerabilities if developers could link to external downloads and bypass Google's billing system.While the emergency stay provides temporary relief, Google faces more substantial changes ahead. The injunction will eventually require Google to carry rival app stores within Google Play and share its complete app catalog with competitors like the Epic Games Store and Microsoft Xbox Store. However, Judge Donato granted Google eight months to develop security procedures for these provisions, meaning rival stores won't appear inside Google Play until 2026 at the earliest.The three-year injunction, running until November 2027, mirrors some victories Epic achieved against Apple in separate antitrust litigation. Google has signaled potential appeals to both the full Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court as it continues fighting the court-ordered dismantling of what judges have affirmed constitutes an illegal monopoly.