Australia court rules partly against Apple, Google in Epic Games lawsuit

SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian court found the smartphone app stores of Apple and Google-owned Android were uncompetitive, local media reported on Tuesday, in a partial victory for Fortnite game developer Epic Games against the tech giants. Amid a years-long legal dispute brought by Epic against the dominant smartphone makers in several jurisdictions around the world, Australia's federal court found the phone makers' app stores had no protections against anti-competitive behaviour, the reports said. Epic Games had claimed Apple and Google's fees for downloads of its games were too high, and that the phone makers made it impossible for users to download its alternative app store.