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Google, multa record definitiva dall’Ue: respinto il ricorso sul caso Android

La Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione europea ha messo la parola fine a uno dei più importanti contenziosi antitrust degli ultimi anni, respingendo il ricorso di Google e della controllante Alphabet e confermando la maxi multa da 4,1 miliardi di euro (circa 4,7 miliardi di dollari) inflitta dall’Unione europea per le pratiche legate al sistema operativo Android.

La vicenda risale al 2018, quando la Commissione europea accusò il colosso americano di aver abusato della propria posizione dominante imponendo ai produttori di smartphone Android la preinstallazione di Google Search, Chrome e Play Store, oltre a introdurre clausole che limitavano l’utilizzo di sistemi operativi alternativi. La sanzione iniziale, pari a 4,34 miliardi di euro, era stata ridotta dal Tribunale Ue nel 2022, ma ora la Corte di Giustizia ha confermato in via definitiva l’importo rideterminato.

Google ha espresso delusione per la sentenza, sostenendo che il verdetto non tenga conto degli investimenti effettuati per mantenere Android “aperto, interoperabile e gratuito” e ricordando di aver modificato i propri accordi commerciali già dal 2018 per adeguarsi alle richieste della Commissione europea.

epa09952087 Google logo in the lobby of BV200, Google's new Bay View campus building during a media tour in Mountain View, California, USA, 16 May 2022. Google announced on 16 May the opening of its new Bay View campus in Silicon Valley, representing the company's first time developing its own major campus and the largest to pursue multiple green building certifications. The Bay View campus was designed by architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Heatherwick Studio, as well as Google's design and engineering teams and spans 42 acres adjacent to the open space, two office buildings, and 1,00-person event center, and 240 short-term employee accommodations units. The campus incorporates biophilic design principles, including greenery, natural daylight and views outside from every desk to improve the health and wellbeing of those inside the building. The new building is to operate every hour of every day on carbon-free energy by 2030, the first-of-its-kind dragonscale solar skin, as well as nerby wind farms, will power Bay View on carbon-free energy 90 percent of the time. Bay View is 100 percent electric where even the kitchens are electric to decrease carbon emissions. To help deliver on its commitment to replenish 120 percent of the water it comsumes by 2023, the site is net water-positive with all non-potable water demands being met using the recycled water it generates on site. A series of above-ground ponds gather rainwater, combine with building wastewater treatment systems, together serve as a water source for cooling towers, flushing toilets, and landscape irrigation. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO