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U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had ordered Apple to
lower the barriers protecting its previously exclusive payment
system for in-app digital transactions and allow developers to
display links to alternative options. On Wednesday she found
that Apple violated a 2021 injunction that, she wrote, sought to
“restrain and prohibit the iPhone maker’s anticompetitive
conduct” and pricing.
“Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will
not be tolerated,” Gonzalez Rogers said in the ruling, which
held Apple in contempt.
She ordered that Apple “no longer impede developers’ ability to
communicate with users nor will they levy or impose a new
commission on off-app purchases.”
Epic CEO and founder Tim Sweeney said on X the company will
return Fortnite to Apple's U.S. App Store next week.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Epic first filed an antitrust lawsuit in 2020 alleging that
Apple had built an illegal monopoly around its popular App Store
that makes billions of dollars annually from a then-exclusive
payment system collecting commissions ranging from 15% to 30% on
in-app commerce.
Although Gonzalez Rogers had rejected the monopoly claims, she
ordered Apple to lower the barriers protecting its previously
exclusive payment system for in-app digital transactions and
allow developers to display links to alternative options. The
Supreme Court rejected Apple's appeal in the case in January
2024.
“In stark contrast to Apple’s initial in-court testimony,
contemporaneous business documents reveal that Apple knew
exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most
anticompetitive option,” the judge wrote Wednesday. She accused
the company's Alex Roman, vice-president for finance, of
“outright” lying under oath.
“Internally, (longtime Apple executive) Phillip Schiller had
advocated that Apple comply with the injunction, but (CEO) Tim
Cook ignored Schiller and instead allowed Chief Financial
Officer Luca Maestri and his finance team to convince him
otherwise. Cook chose poorly,” Gonzalez Rogers wrote.
The judge referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the
Northern District of California to investigate whether criminal
contempt proceedings are appropriate.
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