Source: WRAL
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein can mark himself down for another win on behalf of North Carolinians after being part of a bipartisan group of attorneys general who came to an agreement with Google over “anticompetitive conduct involving the Google Play Store,” WRAL reported.
“No company is too big to play by the rules, including Google,” said Stein in a joint statement. “We brought this lawsuit because it is illegal to use monopoly power to drive up prices. We appreciate this bipartisan group of Attorneys General who fought for a fair marketplace that encourages competition, innovation, and lower prices for consumers.”
According to Stein’s office, the attorney general led the case along with AGs from New York, California, Tennessee and Utah. They accused Google of “…harm[ing] consumers by using its monopoly power in the Android app market to inflate prices for paid apps and in-app purchases.”
The terms of the settlement with Google have not been finalized but are expected to be agreed upon by early October, at the latest. At that point, it will be submitted to the court for approval and then the details will be made public.
In Stein’s time as attorney general, aside from the latest action against Google, he has also taken on e-cigarette company Juul, nearly cleared a backlog of 16,000 untested sexual assault kits (97%, according to Stein), and took part in a $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement with Johnson & Johnson and three other drug companies.
Along with Gov. Roy Cooper, Stein has also helped implement the NC S.A.F.E. (Secure All Firearms Effectively) initiative that will distribute free gun locks and equip local law enforcement, doctors and school personnel with resources they can use to teach community members how to prevent children from accessing guns.
