The European Union's highest court has rejected an appeal by Google and its parent company, Alphabet. As a result, the companies must pay a fine of approximately 4.1 billion euros for unfair business practices related to the Android operating system.

歐盟最高法院已駁回 Google 及其母公司 Alphabet 的上訴。因此，這兩家公司必須就與 Android 作業系統相關的不公平商業行為，支付約 41 億歐元的罰款。

The legal case began in 2018 when the European Commission decided that Google used its market power to stop competition. Specifically, the Commission found three illegal actions: forcing manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Chrome to use the Play Store, paying manufacturers to keep Google as the only search engine, and threatening to remove apps from versions of Android created by other companies. Although a lower court slightly reduced the fine in 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union has now confirmed that the original legal decision was correct.

這起法律案件始於 2018 年，當時歐盟委員會認定 Google 利用其市場權力阻止競爭。具體而言，委員會發現了三項違法行為：強迫製造商預裝 Google 搜尋和 Chrome 瀏覽器以使用 Play 商店、向製造商支付費用以維持 Google 為唯一搜尋引擎，以及威脅將應用程式從其他公司開發的 Android 版本中移除。雖然下級法院在 2022 年略微調低了罰款，但歐洲聯盟法院現已確認原先的法律裁決是正確的。

In its defense, Google argued that these penalties hurt innovation and ignored how the Android system works. Furthermore, the company claimed that the Commission was unfair because it did not punish Apple for similar practices. However, the court rejected these arguments. The judges noted that pre-installed apps give Google an unfair advantage and emphasized that the economic analysis used to prove the abuse of power was valid.

Google 在辯護中主張，這些處罰損害了創新，且無視了 Android 系統的運作方式。此外，該公司聲稱委員會並不公平，因為其並未對採取類似做法的 Apple 處以懲罰。然而，法院駁回了這些主張。法官指出，預裝應用程式賦予 Google 不公平的優勢，並強調用於證明濫用權力的經濟分析是有效的。

This decision is part of a larger trend of strict regulation. Between 2017 and 2019, Google paid over 8 billion euros in fines, including penalties for its shopping and advertising services. Consequently, the EU is moving toward the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to prevent these problems before they happen rather than punishing them later. This shift has caused tension with the United States, as the US government believes American companies are being unfairly targeted, which could lead to trade conflicts.

這一決定是更廣泛的嚴格監管趨勢的一部分。在 2017 年至 2019 年間，Google 支付了超過 80 億歐元的罰款，其中包括針對其購物和廣告服務的處罰。因此，歐盟正邁向《數位市場法案》（DMA），旨在於問題發生前就予以防止，而非事後懲罰。這一轉變導致了與美國的緊張關係，因為美國政府認為美國公司正被不公平地針對，這可能會導致貿易衝突。

Google must now pay the 4.1 billion euro fine. This ends a long legal battle and shows that the EU is determined to strictly regulate Big Tech companies.

Google 現在必須支付 41 億歐元的罰款。這結束了一場漫長的法律之爭，並顯示出歐盟決心嚴格監管大型科技公司。