News: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeals From Apple and Epic to Reject an Antitrust Case -
The 16th of January, on the 16th of January, the U.S. Supreme Court denied requests to consider appeals by Apple and Epic Games regarding the antitrust case Epic has filed against Apple in 2020, Reuters reported.
In 2021, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed the majority of Epic's arguments against Apple however she did rule in Epic's favor regarding Apple's policies against developers sending users away from Apple's network to purchase digital goods. In 2023 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with much of Judge Rogers 2021 ruling.
What is the way Apple Is Responding
It was reported that the Associated Press reported that this is a release of an order to give devs the ability to choose alternative payment options. Apple also filed court documents on 16 January which outline the company's plans to comply with the order and still preserve the bulk of their costs.
AP continued that Apple's Tuesday court filing shows they intend to:
- Let developers use hyperlinks that point to other websites, but Apple is still charging 12% to 27 percentage commissions on transactions via links to external websites.
- Be sure to warn consumers with the "scare screen" in the event that they click a link pointing the user to an alternative payment method, and inform them that Apple is not responsible to those transactions in regards to security or privacy.
- Institute an approval process which AP describes as "potentially complicated" prior to allowing externally-pointing links or buttons to appear within iPhone or iPad apps, citing Apple's "effort to minimize fraudulent activities, frauds, and misinformation."
What is it? Epic Games Are Responding
AP reported that the paper detailing the above-mentioned plans "provoked claims that Apple is acting in bad faith, and sets the scene for further legal sparring," apparently quoting Epic Games' chief executive Tim Sweeney's X (formerly known as Twitter) blog post that stated "Apple submitted a false 'compliance program for the District Court's injunction."
Sweeney later outlined the list of "glaring issues we've discovered to date," concluding with " Epic will challenge Apple's bad-faith compliance plan in District Court" and uploading an image of the aforementioned "scare screens" Apple has included in its Developer Support update on external purchase links.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sweeney had posted mixed opinions, noting his displeasure with it was the Supreme Court choosing not to consider appeals in this instance was "A terrible outcome for everyone developers" however, he also noted that " developers can begin exercising their court-established right to inform US consumers about lower rates on the internet."
Further Epic Games v. Apple Case Developments
On the 17th of Jan, Reuters reported that Apple has also requested the court on Tuesday to have Epic Games pay them over $73 million in legal fees and other costs. Reuters says that Apple's request was prompted by "a earlier court decision in which it was found that Epic Games violated a developer agreement that it had signed in the year 2010," in which "Epic was required to pay for the costs of legal, losses, and any other charges arising from a breach."