Apple referred for possible criminal contempt investigation
Summary
A US judge claims that tech giant Apple purposefully ignored a ruling made in favor of Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite. The judge suggested a criminal investigation into whether Apple undermined competition and lied under oath, to which Apple has declared they disagree and intend to appeal.Key Facts
- A US judge states that Apple willfully disobeyed a court order in a case put forward by Epic Games.
- The order aimed to prevent Apple from implementing anti-competitive practices, such as blocking third-party payment options on the App Store.
- Epic Games claimed Apple's App Store demonstrated monopolistic characteristics, criticizing the 30% commission Apple takes on purchases.
- The judge ruled in 2021 that Apple could not stop developers from linking to their own purchasing methods outside the App Store.
- However, the judge found that Apple continued to interfere with competition despite this ruling.
- The judge's investigation of internal documents suggested that Apple was intentionally disregarding the court order.
- She also indicated that Apple's vice president of finance, Alex Roman, lied under oath.
- In response to the ruling, Epic Games has proposed to bring Fortnite back to the US iOS App Store, asking Apple to extend its reduced commission framework globally in exchange for dropping all litigation.
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