Apple ordered to loosen grip on App Store

Epic Games wins epic antitrust lawsuit

- TRIPP MICKLE

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Apple must loosen its grip on its App Store and stop collecting a commission on some app sales, capping a five-year antitrust case brought by Epic Games that aimed to change the power that Apple wields over a large slice of the digital economy.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of US District Court for the Northern District of California rebuked Apple for thwarting a previous ruling in the lawsuit and said the company needed to be stopped from further disobeying the court. She criticised Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and accused other executives at the company of lying.

In her earlier ruling, Ms Gonzales Rogers ordered Apple to allow apps to provide users with external links to pay developers directly for services. The apps could then avoid the 30% commission that Apple charges in its App Store and potentially charge less for services.

Instead, Ms Gonzalez Rogers said Wednesday, Apple created a new system that forced apps with external sales to pay a 27% commission to the company. Apple also created pop-up screens that discouraged customers from paying elsewhere, telling them that payments outside the App Store may not be secure.

"Apple sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this court's injunction," Ms Gonzalez Rogers wrote.