Epic lawsuit says Samsung “coordinated” with Google to get around trial verdict
Enlarge / Installing the Epic Games Store on Galaxy phones is impossible with the "Auto Blocker" feature turned on. (credit: Getty Images)
Following its antitrust win against Google last year, Epic is now going after both Samsung and Google for allegedly conspiring to set up what it says is a similarly anti-competitive scheme on its Galaxy smartphones.
Epic's newly filed federal lawsuit focuses on Samsung's Auto Blocker feature, a setting designed to prevent Galaxy smartphone users from downloading "unauthorized" apps from third-party sources such as the recently launched Android version of the Epic Games Store. Introduced last year as an opt-in feature, the Auto Blocker feature is now activated by default during the initial setup of a Samsung phone following a July system update (the feature can be turned off with a simple toggle during setup or in the phone's settings afterward).
Epic's lawsuit takes a particular exception to the fact that Samsung doesn't provide any way for a company like Epic to qualify as an "authorized source" that has been judged as safe under the Auto Blocker. "While Samsung half-heartedly claims Auto Blocker is a security feature, its operation is to block all competing stores, regardless of how safe and secure they may be-and without any assessment of their safety or security or any path for other stores to achieve 'authorization,'" the suit argues.