Apple’s lawyers are a busy bunch these days with lawsuits coming right and left and the tech giant being accused of anti-competitive practices. Here are some of the latest updates.
As noted by AppleInsider, Apple has is being sued for its gift card security features note being strong enough to deter thieves. The complaint, originally filed on May 28 in San Diego County Superior Court, has been moved moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. In the lawsuit, which seeks class status, the plaintiff claims that Apple has failed to “implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to properly secure” its physical gift cards. As such, it alleges that Apple gift cards can be targeted and compromised by thieves at the point of sale.
As you probably know by now, Apple is facing a legal brouhaha with Epic Games. According to Apple, Epic Games in June sought a special deal from CNBC reports that Apple exec Phil Schiller says the Fortnite developer wanted a special deal that would change the way in which Epic offers apps on the App Store.
“On June 30, 2020, Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney wrote my colleagues and me an email asking for a ‘side letter’ from Apple that would create a special deal for only Epic that would fundamentally change the way in which Epic offers apps on Apple’s iOS platform,” he said.
However, as noted by MacRumors, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called the statement misleading because the email also asked for the concessions to be made available to other developers.
“You can read my email in Apple’s filing, which is publicly available,” he tweeted. “I specifically said in Epic’s request to the Apple execs, “We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…”
This last tidbit doesn’t involve lawyers (yet), but does show the ongoing friction between App Store developers and Apple. As noted by 9to5Mac, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg shared on Twitter today that the reason there haven’t been any updates for the WordPress iOS app is that Apple won’t approve them until the app includes in-app payment options — even though the WordPress app doesn’t sell anything.
