Apple suffered a setback in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, after a US appeals court upheld a federal court’s order that could force the company to change payment practices in its App Store. The court ruled that Apple cannot prohibit developers from providing links or buttons to external payments outside of the App Store. However, Apple’s commissions of up to 30% for in-app payments were allowed to stand, and the court sided with Apple on nine other matters in the case.
Apple said it may appeal the decision and has 14 days to file its appeal. Meanwhile, Epic conceded that it lost on its antitrust claims but said the trial court order “frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there.”
The trial court judge had found that Apple violated California’s unfair competition laws by barring developers from telling users about other ways to pay. The trial court judge said Apple could no longer ban links and buttons to third-party payment options. The appeals court said the trial court’s order to Apple to change its behavior was appropriate because it would be too difficult to put a price on the damages Apple’s rule caused to Epic.
The decision only applies to the US, and Apple has been forced to open up its in-app payment systems by competition authorities in other countries such as South Korea, the Netherlands, and Japan. The trial court’s orders will remain paused while any appeals unfold. The ruling is the second time in two years that a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels.
Apple’s shares ended the day up slightly at $165.33. The appeals court left open the possibility of future legal battles over how the changes must be made.
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For Digital Products and Services: Maurisys Software.
