Apple Violated Antitrust Ruling, Judge Finds

[SouthBayDem]

Source: Wall Street Journal

A federal judge hammered Apple for violating an antitrust ruling related to App Store restrictions and took the extraordinary step of referring the matter to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation.

“Apple willfully chose not to comply with this court’s injunction,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in a ruling late Wednesday that specifically chided Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and alleged that another company executive lied under oath. “It did so with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers.”

The order is the latest twist in a long-running legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games, developer of the popular videogame “Fortnite.” It accused Apple of monopolistic behavior in a 2021 case related to the tight controls it imposes over app makers.

Rogers largely ruled in Apple’s favor in the 2021 case but required the iPhone maker to allow developers to offer users alternative methods for paying for services and subscriptions outside the App Store.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-violated-antitrust-ruling-federal-judge-finds-66b85957?st=tuFwD4

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[elleng]

1. This is significant.

[JoseBalow]

2. Any resulting fine will be less than one day's revenue

Cost of doing business

[LudwigPastorius]

3. So, does this mean that people selling things on the App store don't have to give Apple a cut for...

hosting their product and presenting it to its customers?

[pimpbot]

5. no, its about in app purchases

Reading the actual article, the lawsuit was over Apple forcing developers to give them a cut of in app purchases. The solution was to allow 3rd party purchases but apparently Apple made that difficult / not possible.

[mdbl]

4. Tim Apple will just call Donald Dump

Didn't he give him a big inauguration donation?

[Bengus81]

6. Stop buying their shit and it won't matter.