Nothing prevents Apple from “throwing” applications from its App Store if they want to charge outside the system, a US appeals court has decided. Read the details below!
Manzana won the antitrust lawsuit initiated by epic, the creator of Fortnite, thanks to a decision by a California appeals court. The court upheld all the previous decisions in the trial where Apple was mostly in the right, despite acknowledging that those from Cupertino violated the laws that protect competition. With this decision, the judges decided that the app store It has an owner and there you can do whatever you want.
Epic took the case to the appeals court where it hoped to prove that Apple was illegally restricting the distribution of Fortnite on devices. Mac and iOS because they offered an option to make microtransactions and buy v bucks outside of the App Store. According to what the web reported Bloombergthe victory of the creator of the iphone this time it was total with nine out of ten allegations discarded, and except that epic want to take this to the Supreme Court, that’s the end of the case.
“Today’s decision reaffirms Apple’s resounding victory in this case, with nine out of ten pleadings decided in Apple’s favor.the company said in a statement. “For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple complies with state and federal antitrust laws. The App Store continues to promote competition, foster innovation and expand opportunities, and we are proud of its contributions to users and developers around the world..”
“We respectfully disagree with the 10th subsection related to California law, and we are considering continuing to review the process”the company concluded.
The decision is a crushing blow to Epic Games and other developers who had hoped to set a precedent for future antitrust decisions that would allow charging outside of App Stores. What they hoped was that device makers would be forced to open up their “closed gardens” more and thus provide more monetization options that circumvent the exorbitant fees they charge.
Epic began the lawsuit in 2020 after being banned from the App Store for intentionally violating its in-app purchase policy. Although those of Cupertino won the trial and the court decided that there was no monopolistic behavior, the creator of Fortnite hoped to be able to break through and establish precedents for future cases.