Apple Referred For Possible Criminal Contempt Investigation

A US territory judge has recovered Apple wilfully violated her injunction successful a lawsuit brought by Epic Games — and that a apical Apple executive "outright lied" nether oath.

The injunction was expected to artifact Apple from anticompetitive behaviour and pricing, opening nan App Store up to extracurricular costs options.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she was referring nan matter to nan US Attorney for Northern District of California to analyse whether a criminal contempt proceeding is appropriate.

Apple responded to nan ruling precocious Wednesday.

"We powerfully disagree pinch nan decision. We will comply pinch nan court's bid and we will appeal," an Apple spokesperson said.

Wednesday's judgement refers to a 2021 lawsuit brought by Epic Games, nan shaper of Fortnite, 1 of nan world's astir celebrated games, which based on that third-party costs options should beryllium disposable to customers.

It challenged nan up-to-30% trim Apple takes from purchases - and based on that nan App Store was monopolistic.

• Apple dealt awesome rustle successful Epic Games trial

In her 2021 judgement, Judge Gonzalez Rogers stated that Apple could nary longer prohibit developers linking to their ain purchasing mechanisms.

As good arsenic crippled purchasing, different illustration of really this would activity is simply a movie-streaming work being capable to show customers to subscribe via its ain website, without utilizing Apple's in-app purchasing mechanism.

In a contempt bid issued Wednesday, Judge Gonzalez Rogers recovered that Apple nevertheless continued to interfere pinch title pinch attempts that nan tribunal stated "will not beryllium tolerated".

Judge Gonzalez Rogers added that soul institution documents she reviewed showed Apple deliberately violated nan injunction.

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

She said CEO Tim Cook ignored executive Phillip Schiller's urging to person Apple comply pinch nan injunction and allowed CFO Luca Maestri to person him not to.

"Cook chose poorly," she wrote.

She besides said Apple's vice president of finance Alex Roman "outright lied nether oath".

The judge wrote that 1 illustration of Apple's attempts to evade nan injunction included a determination to complaint a 27% committee connected off-app purchases. wherever it had antecedently charged nothing.

The institution besides imposed caller barriers and requirements to discourage customers from utilizing competing purchasing platforms, she said.

In a station connected X, Epic Games laminitis and CEO Tim Sweeney said Epic Games would return Fortnite to nan US iOS App Store adjacent week and offered an oliva branch to his long-time rival.

"Epic puts distant a bid proposal: If Apple extends nan court's friction-free, Apple-tax-free model worldwide, we'll return 'Fortnite' to nan App Store worldwide and driblet existent and early litigation connected nan topic," Sweeney wrote.

In different post, he wrote: "NO FEES connected web transactions. Game complete for nan Apple Tax. Apple's 15-30% junk fees are now conscionable arsenic dormant present successful nan United States of America arsenic they are successful Europe nether nan Digital Markets Act. Unlawful here, unlawful there."