US judges have extensive powers to restore competition in the market and punish companies with illegal monopolies, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) told a California judge on Monday who is reviewing planned reforms to Google’s Play app store.

The FTC presented its views in an amicus curiae filing to San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge James Donato, who is presiding over a lawsuit filed by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games that accuses Google of monopolizing the way consumers access apps on Android devices and pay for in-app transactions.

Epic convinced a jury in San Francisco last year that Google’s controls on app distribution and payments illegally restrict competition. To counter that, Epic asked the court to require Google to allow consumers to download apps from third-party app stores like Epic’s and from other internet sources.

Epic also asked the judge to give developers more freedom to inform users about payment options for in-app purchases.

The FTC did not take sides in the case or support any of Epic’s specific proposals. It said U.S. federal judges could take “any action necessary to restore the competition eliminated by the illegal conduct” and that Donato should focus on how to allow competitors to enter the market.

Donato is scheduled to continue hearing the companies on Wednesday.

Epic declined to comment on the FTC filing and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google has denied any wrongdoing and said Epic’s reforms would make it “almost impossible” for Google to compete.

Google is facing further lawsuits regarding key aspects of its business.

A judge in Washington DC sided with the US Justice Department last week, ruling that Google illegally monopolized web search and spent billions to become the Internet’s default search engine. Google has denied the allegations.

The case is Epic Games Inc. v. Google LLC et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:20-cv-05671-JD.

For Epic: Gary Bornstein of Cravath, Swaine & Moore

For Google: Glenn Pomerantz of Munger, Tolles & Olson

For the FTC: Kelly Ortiz of the FTC

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