Judge James Donato has made it clear: Google will face consequences. Eight months after a federal jury unanimously ruled that Google’s Android app store constitutes an illegal monopoly in the case of Epic v. Google, Donato held a final hearing on remedies. He dismissed any arguments suggesting that Google shouldn’t have to open its store to rival app stores due to cost or complexity.

“We’re going to tear the barriers down, it’s just the way it’s going to happen,” Donato stated. “The world that exists today is the product of monopolistic conduct. That world is changing.” Donato is expected to issue his final ruling in just over two weeks.

While Epic won the jury trial last December, it is now up to the judge to determine how to address the damage caused by Google’s monopoly. In April, Epic proposed that the court force Google to allow rival stores within the Google Play store and grant them access to all Google Play apps. This would enable Android users to choose their preferred app store.

During today’s hearing, both parties agreed that opening up the Play Store is feasible, though they debated the timeline, costs, and whether Google could require human review of every app in rival stores before allowing them into Google Play.

Google argued against being forced to host certain apps, using the hypothetical example of a Nazi app. Epic’s lead attorney, Gary Bornstein, countered that if Google reviews every app, it retains gatekeeping authority, which it has previously abused. Judge Donato emphasized that he plans to prohibit any discriminatory behavior by Google towards rival app stores, including human review.

In his closing argument, Google’s attorney Glenn Pomerantz suggested that the judge’s direction resembled Soviet-era central planning. However, Donato clarified that he would not micromanage Google but would instead order the creation of a “technical compliance and monitoring committee” with representatives from Epic, Google, and a mutually agreed third party to oversee the implementation and report back to the court every 90 days.

Donato concluded, “When you have a mountain that’s built out of bad conduct, you have to move that mountain. That’s what’s going to happen.”