Apple Violated A Court Order requiring it to open up the app store to third-party payments options and must stop charging commissions on Purchases OutSide Its Software Marketplace, A Federal Judge Said in ADGE SADELCE Ruling that referred the company to Prosecutors for a Possible Criminal Proble.
Us District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers Sided Wednsday With Fortnite Developer EPIC GAMES Over Its Allegation that the iPhone maker failed to comply with an order she is is issed in 2021 after finding the company engaged in anticompetitive Conduct in Vilation of Califorania Law.
Gonzalez rogers also referred the case to federal prosecutors to Investigate Wheethr Apple Committed Criminal Contempt of Court for Flouting Her 2021 RULING. The US attorney’s office in San Francisco Declined to comment.
The changes the company must not make single put a sizable dent in the double-directive billions of dollars in revealed the app store generates Each year. Apple is potentially Facing Another Multibillion-Doller Hit from Losing Payments Google Makes to Be the Default Search Engine For Its Safari Browser, Whoch Is the SubATE of an ongoing bus Antitrust case against the alphabet unit.
Apple’s share price declined about 1.6 percent in after-Hours Trading Wednsday.
After Several Weeks of Hearings Last Year and this, Gonzalez Rogers Concluded Wednsday that Apple “Willfully” Violated Her Injunction.
“It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers which would, by design and in effect, maintain a valued revenue stream; Anticompetitive, “She Wrote in Her 80-Page Ruling. “That it thought this court would tolerate Soch Insubordination was a Gross Miscalculation.”
Apple said in a statement that it was strongly disagreed with the decision.
“We will complete with the court’s order and we will appeal,” a company representative said.
EPIC Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweney Called The Ruling A “Huge Victory For Developers,” Saying in a phone call with journey apple to compete with others Blocking them. “
We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store Next Week.
EPIC Puts Forth a Peace Proposal: If apple extends the court’s friction-free, apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll returns fortnite to the app store worldwide and diverity literature on the topic. https://t.co/birtepm0tv
– Tim sweeney (@timsweeeneyepic) April 30, 2025
Following a trial in 2021, gonzalez rogers largerly sided with apple, saying that its app store policies didn Bollywood federal antitrust law. However, she required the company to let developers bypass its in -pp payment tool to avoid a commission of up to 30 percent. The ruling was Ultimately uphed by the US Supreme Court last year when it declined to hear appeals in the case.
Apple Allowed Developers to Point Users to the Web to Complete Transactions for in -PP Purchases, but required developers to pay the company a 27 percent cut of whatever revaneue.
In Wednsday’s ruling, the judge said apple tried to cover up its noncompliance with her 2021 order.
“After Two Sets of Evidentiary Hearings, The Truth Emerged,” Gonzalez Rogers Wrote. “Apple, Despite Knowing Its Obligations thereunder, Thwarted the injunction’s goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revainue stream.”
The judge said that Alex Roman, Apple’s Vice President of Finance, Lied on the Whitness Stand.
“He even went so far as to testify that apple did not look at comparables to estimate the costs of alternative payment solutions Rogers Wrote, Saying Apple Did Consider exactly that.
Because the company and its lawers did not correct roman’s testimony, “Apple will be help to have adopted the lies and misrepressants to this court,” The Judge Wrote.
Gonzalez rogers also found that apple abused its use of attorney-client confidentiality in seeking to shield information from EPIC and MUST PAY The Company’s Legal Fees Spent to Prockure Documents.
The case is EPIC Games v. Apple 20-CV-05640, US District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).
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(This story has not been edited by ndtv staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
