Apple Hits Back At Us Judge's 'extraordinary' Contempt Order

Apple is asking an appeals tribunal to region a US territory judge's caller ruling successful a lawsuit which could find nan early of its highly lucrative App Store.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers recovered past week nan tech elephantine wilfully violated an bid she had antecedently made successful a lawsuit revenge by Fortnite-maker Epic Games.

That bid - handed down successful 2021 - demanded Apple refrain from anti-competitive behaviour and pricing and let extracurricular costs options successful nan App Store.

Last week she wished Apple was flouting that request - a uncovering Apple has now called "extraordinary."

Both of Judge Gonzalez Rogers' judgements stem from an antitrust lawsuit revenge by Epic Games.

In 2020, Epic accused nan iPhone-maker of possessing an forbidden monopoly pinch its App Store, which collected commissions of betwixt 15% and 30% connected in-app purchases.

The judge rejected Epic's monopoly claims, but recovered Apple was stopping developers from giving users replacement costs options successful usurpation of California title rules.

She ordered Apple to make changes that would thief developers steer customers to cheaper costs options extracurricular of nan Apple ecosystem.

Last year, Epic accused Apple of failing to comply by creating a caller group of fees for developers instead.

In a contempt bid past week, Judge Gonzalez Rogers recovered that Apple continued to interfere pinch competition, saying that soul institution documents showed Apple deliberately violated her 2021 injunction.

On Wednesday, Apple requested an appeals tribunal return action, including by lifting a prohibition that stops it from charging developers fees connected purchases made extracurricular nan App Store.

The institution wrote that specified restrictions "will costs Apple important sums annually" and are based connected behaviour that has not been recovered unlawful.

"Rather, they were imposed to punish Apple for purported non-compliance pinch an earlier state-law Injunction that is itself invalid," Apple wrote.

Apple did not straight addresses Judge Gonzalez Rogers' stunning rebuke of institution executives.

In her astir caller order, she said CEO Tim Cook ignored executive Phillip Schiller's urging to person Apple comply pinch her injunction, and allowed then-Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri to person him not to.

"Cook chose poorly," she wrote.

The institution documents she reviewed uncover "that Apple knew precisely what it was doing and astatine each move chose nan astir anticompetitive option", she wrote.

Apple said past week it would comply pinch nan court's bid while it appeals.