Apple Loses Epic Games Court Appeal
â–Ľ Summary
– Apple has lost its appeal of a district court ruling that found it in contempt for failing to comply with a 2021 order related to its antitrust dispute with Epic Games.
– The appeals court largely affirmed the lower court’s findings that Apple’s actions, like imposing a 27% fee and restrictive link designs, discouraged developers from using external payment options.
– However, the court ruled the lower judge went too far by completely banning Apple from collecting any commission on these external purchases.
– The appeals panel recommended Apple be allowed to charge a reasonable, non-prohibitive fee based on the costs of coordinating external payment links.
– The ruling also states Apple can restrict developers from making their external payment buttons or links more prominent than Apple’s own in-app purchase options.
A major legal battle between Apple and Epic Games has taken another significant turn, with a federal appeals court largely upholding a lower court’s ruling that found Apple in contempt for failing to comply with an earlier order. The core of the dispute centers on Apple’s App Store policies, specifically its control over in-app payments and the commissions it charges developers. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that Apple had effectively prohibited developers from using external payment links by imposing restrictive and costly conditions, violating the spirit of a 2021 injunction.
The original ruling from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers detailed how Apple’s actions discouraged the use of alternative payment systems. These tactics included imposing a 27 percent fee on purchases made through external links, mandating that links appear only in plain text rather than as buttons, and presenting users with intimidating full-screen warnings when they attempted to leave the App Store. The appellate panel agreed, stating Apple’s approach made it difficult for customers to use external options and forced developers to pay a prohibitive commission.
However, the appeals court did find one area where the lower court overstepped. It determined that Judge Gonzalez Rogers abused her discretion by completely banning Apple from collecting any commission on these external purchases. The opinion suggests this was an overly broad solution. Instead, the panel recommends the district court consider allowing Apple to charge a reasonable, non-prohibitive fee that reflects the actual costs associated with coordinating these external payment links. The court also clarified that while Apple cannot force developers to make their own payment options less appealing, it can enforce design rules to prevent those external links from being more prominent than Apple’s own in-app purchase system.
This decision sends the case back to the district court for further proceedings to establish what constitutes an appropriate fee structure. The outcome will have profound implications for the multi-billion dollar app economy and the ongoing global debate about the power of major tech platforms. For now, the legal pressure on Apple to open its ecosystem to more competition continues to mount. Neither Apple nor Epic Games provided immediate public comment following the ruling, though Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, shared news of the decision on social media.
(Source: The Verge)
