The program of the great test of Apple-Epic Games On what Apple controls on its App Store and if it was an unfair control now it has a choice, and it’s not good for Epic games.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in favor of Apple almost all statistics. Epic Games was hoping to confirm that the professional App Store is the only one, making prices go up for consumers and forcing manufacturers to follow all of its rules to be allowed on Apple’s electronic devices.
Gonzalez Rogers ruled that the App Store is not the only one and that Apple should not be punished for its performance. And when the court pressures Apple to allow manufacturers to tell users what alternatives to pay for in-app purchases – which can look like (and sometimes, was said earlier as) Epic success – Apple will be allowed to continue many of the Epic App Store apps that were trying to stop it.
“The Court finds that Apple is prosecuting all cases, including violations of the California Competition (Count Ten) Competition and a minority of the Declaratory Reliefs,” the judge said.
But you must not take his words for granted; The opinions of Epic and Apple also show which side the decision was based on.
“Today’s goal is not for the benefit of developers or consumers,” Epic chief Tim Sweeney said he wrote. “Epic is fighting for a fair competition between software payment systems and a multi-billion dollar consumer software platform.”
“The court has confirmed what we have known for a long time: the App Store does not violate anti-discrimination laws,” Apple said.
Central to the decision was the definition of the “market” that Apple claims to control. That was the point of the lawsuit: Apple claimed that the market was a platform for all sports; Epic said the market was just Apple’s App Store. Gonzalez Rogers said at the time of trial that they think the market could be a playground, which could include other phones and stores like Google Play. And that is the meaning he went with in his decision. It is difficult to prove that Apple is the only one where the definition of a judge in the market also includes its competitors.
The games Epic Games played were few: Although Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple should allow developers to show users where to shop outside of the App Store (Apple purchase will not be discounted), Epic is not allowed to put its payment method into the app, nor will it install its app on hardware Apple.
“The experimental approach increases competition, increases transparency, enhances consumer choice and awareness and preserves Apple’s environment for conflicting reasons,” the judge said.
But Apple had already decided (or was not strongly coercion) a few weeks ago to end their ban telling users that they can purchase subscriptions and game items outside the App Store. That’s why the ruling doesn’t change anything on Apple now, and companies like Epic and Spotify already exist on record stating that being able to tell customers about alternatives is not enough.
Commenting on some of Epic’s claims, Gonzalez Rogers said the company had “gone too far” and could not guarantee that Apple was independent. This does not mean that Apple is not the only one, or that another complainant cannot make a good argument. Gonzalez Rogers added: “The experiments were not as clear-cut in terms of competing businesses in the fair market as they used to be.” Apple’s 30% of Apple’s subscriptions and in-app purchases, he said, “seemed to be in the air” and “were controversial.” But, since Epic did not dispute the amount of the committee (only there was one), he was unable to rule.
Hence this type of case will not be the last on Apple and antitrust. Lawmakers in the United States, as well as in a number of other countries, are urging Apple to change what it sees as a breach of their antitrust laws. Apple is one of several Big Tech companies involved in its antitrust management, which includes to choose Big Tech opponent Lina Khan to chair the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The problem is complex, too: Republicans and Democracy legislators oppose Big Tech and have it began initiate new opposing loans, while government representatives they agree that Send Google breach prohibits repayment several times over the past year. Facebook was also indicted for violating FTC rules and for almost all countries – although the suit was he was thrown out.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has made the decision at Big Tech one of the biggest issues, said the decision shows the need for more anti-conflict laws.
“The software market puts a lot of interest in the competition,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “While this decision addresses some of the issues, there is still much to be done. We need to enact government regulations on software storage to protect consumers, promote competition, and promote skills. ”
Spotify, which has been a major fixture of Apple’s App Store complained about it to the European Union antitrust en Commission
“These and other developments around the world are indicating that there is a need for legislation to address this and many other injustices, which are aimed at frustrating competition with consumers,” Spotify chief marketing officer and lawmaker Horacio Gutierrez said in a statement.
As for Epic Borrowing which removed all of that – placing a direct payment method in Fortnite that violates the App Store rules, which came from iOS and MacOS devices – the judge ruled in favor of Apple. Not only did Apple announce that Apple’s decision to terminate their agreement with Epic was “legitimate, legitimate, and coercive,” he also told Epic to pay Apple damages: 30% of the revenue earned through direct payment through August 2020 to date.