Report from 9to5Mac
In Brief – Epic Games has persuaded a panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court Appeals to reverse an earlier decision that had temporarily paused action in the district court that will determine the maximum level of fees Apple can charge app developers for in-app purchases. Previously, the appeals court had granted Apple a temporary stay as the iPhone giant again appealed to the Supreme Court in the case. However, Epic challenged Apple’s request for a pause as just a delaying tactic to avoid making changes to its fees. The panel of judges ultimately sided with the Fortnite developer, issuing an order that lifted the stay allowed the case to proceed, and saying that Apple failed to demonstrate that the Supreme Court was likely to take the case or that continuing district court proceedings to determine the permissible level of Apple fees on in-app payments would cause it irreparable harm.
Context – Epic’s 2020 antitrust lawsuits against Apple and Google kicked off a global campaign to drive down app store fees. Yes, it’s been six years, but they are winning. Google, with a more open ecosystem, lost. They have negotiated a global settlement with Epic for lower fees and a regime for secure third-party app stores that they are trying to sell to Judge James Donato. Apple prevailed over Epic on all the federal antitrust complaints but lost on a single charge under California’s Unfair Competition law. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who made it clear all along that she thought Apple’s fees were too high, imposed an injunction on Apple that proved as restrictive as what Google faced after they lost across the board. Apple proposed lowering fees from 30% to 27%, which Gonzalez Rogers rejected out of hand and she imposed a contempt order on the company prohibiting fees on developers using non-Apple payments. The appeals court ruled that zero commissions went too far, saying “Apple is entitled to some compensation for the use of its intellectual property” and directed Gonzalez Rogers to determine that level. Until that determination is made, Apple collects zero developer fees on third-party payments.