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A U.S. judge ruled in a major antitrust lawsuit against Apple’s App Store on Friday, overturning some of Apple’s restrictions on how developers can collect in-app payments.
The decision came in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite. Epic has accused Apple of running its App Store as a monopoly, exercising too much power over which apps are allowed and how they are run. It targeted Apple’s in-app purchase policies, under which it charges developers up to 30% commission on profits.
Friday’s ruling overturns a critical part of Apple’s App Store rules, which prohibit developers from telling users other places they can go to pay the developer directly rather than using the payment mechanisms of the developer. ‘Apple.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has issued a nationwide order that allows developers to put “buttons, external links, or other calls to action into their apps that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms.” .
The ruling also states that Apple cannot prohibit developers from communicating with customers through contact information developers obtained when customers signed up in the app.
But Gonzalez Rogers didn’t grant Epic some of his other wishes, like forcing Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores.
The judge ruled that Epic had not shown that Apple was an illegal monopoly, but showed that the smartphone giant was engaging in “anti-competitive behavior” under California laws.
“A remedy to eliminate these provisions is appropriate,” the court ruling read. “This measured remedy will increase competition, increase transparency, increase consumer choice and information while preserving Apple’s iOS ecosystem which has pro-competitive justifications.”
The feud between Apple and Epic Games escalated last August when Epic attempted to bypass Apple’s App Store commission by launching its own payment system in its hugely popular Fortnite game. Apple responded by removing the Fortnite game from the App Store.
Epic Games has filed a lawsuit, and Friday’s ruling comes after a three-week trial in May in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit saw Epic Games call its own CEO Tim Sweeney to testify as well as Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Cook, in his much-anticipated testimony, justified the way the App Store is run by appealing to user security and privacy, arguing that Apple needs to carefully check which apps are allowed on its platform.
The App Store is a major contributor to earnings growth that helped give Apple its current market value of nearly $ 2.5 billion, but industry gains remained a point of contention during the lawsuit.
Apple shares fell about 3.4% on news of the decision, causing the company’s market value to drop $ 87 billion. Shares of Alphabet, which operates an app store for Android smartphones, reversed an earlier gain and fell 0.8% for the last time.
Apple said in a statement, “As the court recognized, success is not illegal. Apple faces stiff competition in every segment in which we operate, and we believe customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world. “
The orders are similar to a move Apple made last week to conclude a Japanese Fair Trade Commission investigation in which Apple said it would allow “player” apps like Netflix to provide a link to customers to register for an outside paid account. of the app, skipping Apple’s commission.
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