Latest News U.S. Supreme Court Denies Appeals from Apple as well Epic in Antitrust Case -
On January 16, the U.S. Supreme Court denied requests to listen to appeals filed by Apple and Epic Games regarding the antitrust litigation Epic brought in 2020 against Apple in 2020, Reuters reported.
In 2021, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied the bulk of Epic's allegations against Apple but ruled in Epic's favor regarding Apple's policy against developers sending customers out of Apple's systems to make digital purchases. And in 2023, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with much of Judge Rogers 2021 ruling.
What Does Apple Think? Apple Responds
According to the Associated Press reported that this lifts a hold on an order that gives devs the ability to choose different payment methods. Apple has also submitted court documents late on 16 January that outline its plans to comply with the order while still preserving most of their fees.
AP reported that Apple's court filing indicates that they plan to:
- Allow developers to use links pointing to external websites However, Apple charges 12%-27 percentage commissions on transactions via links to external websites.
- Inform consumers via the "scare screen" when they click on an advertisement that takes users to an alternative payment system, stating that Apple is not responsible for the purchase in terms of security or privacy.
- Institute an approval process which AP describes as "potentially complicated" before allowing external-pointing links or buttons to be displayed within iPhone or iPad apps, citing Apple's "effort to reduce fraudulent activities, frauds, and misinformation."
How Epic Games Are Responding
AP noted that the document detailing the above-mentioned plans "provoked claims that Apple has acted in bad faith and set the stage for more dispute over legal issues," apparently quoting Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney's X (formerly called Twitter) blog post stating "Apple filed a bad-faith 'compliance' plan for the District Court's injunction."
Sweeney later outlined an extensive list of "glaring problems we've found so far," concluding with " Epic will challenge Apple's bad-faith compliance program in District Court" and attaching an image of a "scare display" Apple has included in the Developer Support update regarding external purchase links.
The previous day, Sweeney had posted mixed opinions, noting it was "unpleasant" that it was the Supreme Court choosing not to take appeals on this matter was "A terrible outcome for everyone developers" while pointing out " developers can begin using their right as a court judge to inform US consumers about lower rates on the internet."
More Epic Games v. Apple Case Developments
The 17th of January, on the 17th of January, Reuters reported that Apple also asked the judge on Tuesday to make Epic Games pay them over $73 million in legal fees and other expenses. Reuters states that Apple's request was prompted by "a lower court ruling that said Epic Games violated a developer agreement that it had signed in the year 2010," in which "Epic was required to pay for losses, legal fees, and any other charges arising from a breach."