In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in willful violation of a 2021 injunction designed to stop the company’s anticompetitive App Store practices, reports 9to5Mac.
According to the 80-page order, Apple “thwarted the injunction’s goals” by imposing new fees and obstacles that continued to stifle competition, despite clear instructions from the court. The judge didn’t just sanction Apple — she referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible criminal contempt proceedings. The court has barred Apple from charging its 27% commission on external purchases and ordered it to immediately stop interfering with developers’ ability to communicate alternative payment options to users.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is offering a “peace proposal” to Apple. In an X post, he had this to say: We will return Fortnite to the US iOS App Store next week. Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court’s friction-free, Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we’ll return Fortnite to the App Store worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic.
Whether or not, Apple will accept the “peace offering” remains to be seen. The tech giant does plan to change its U.S. App Store rules in accordance with the ruling from the U.S Northern District of California. However, Apple tells MacRumors that it will appeal the decision, though.
“We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal,” reads Apple’s statement.
