Judge rules against Apple’s bid to pause app store reform order in Epic Games case

On Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Apple’s request to pause key parts of a federal judge’s order, which mandates that the company immediately open its App Store to greater competition. The ruling stems from a long-standing antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, and Apple’s attempt to delay the provisions while appealing the decision was rejected.
Mike Scarcella for Reuters:
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U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in April found Apple in contempt of an earlier injunction order she issued in the Epic Games case.
Apple in a statement said it was “disappointed with the decision not to stay the district court’s order, and we’ll continue to argue our case during the appeals process.”
The judge on April 30 ordered Apple to end several practices that she said were designed to circumvent the injunction, including a new 27% fee Apple imposed on app developers when its customers complete an app purchase outside the App Store…
In its emergency appeal, Apple said the ruling blocked the company from “exercising control over core aspects of its business operations” and forced it to give free access to its services.

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MacDailyNews Take: Rogers’ order is ludicrous and should be overturned on appeal as it basically says that Apple has no right to charge for advertising in its own store.
This is akin to a judge forcing Best Buy and Target to place signs next to each product that advertise lower prices for the same items at Walmart…
If developers like Epic Games want to advertise lower prices [to be had elsewhere via] Apple’s App Store, Apple should simply begin charging an “In-Store Advertising” fee, because that’s exactly what it would be. – MacDailyNews, July 27, 2023

The bottom line is clear: Epic Games wants to enjoy all of the benefits of Apple’s App Store, including access to well over one billion of the world’s most affluent users for free. That is illogical, unfair, and, basically, theft. – MacDailyNews, May 4, 2021

How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Apple incurs costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to over one billion users. — MacDailyNews, June 10, 2022

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