Apple is facing a new class-action lawsuit regarding its App Store policies and practices, according to Hagens Berman.
This is the same law firm that secured an US$100 million settlement on behalf of iOS developers “harmed by its fees and commissions.” The new lawsuit was filed May 2, following news that a federal judge found the tech giant in contempt of court for violating a 2021 antitrust injunction that required Apple to permit its app developers to sell subscriptions and other in-app products directly to their customers using links within their apps.
Without the injunction in place Apple charges app developers uniform transaction fees (defaulting at 30%, and 15% under some programs). The court found that Apple implemented a scheme to violate the injunction and prevent developers from directing customers to their own websites and payment platforms.
The class-action lawsuit against Apple states that the tech giant has been found to have conducted internal analyses that showed its intention to circumvent the injunction to unlawfully preserve its “ill-gotten gains” and engaged in a series of scare tactics that served to keep developers from earning their fair share of revenue from subscription apps and in-app purchases.
Under the injunction, iOS developers were to save billions of dollars in revenues by processing their own payments, funds they could reinvest int their apps and operations. But “[t]o neutralize the effect of the injunction and illicitly retain this revenue stream, Apple engaged in a series of contrivances for which it has now been held in contempt,” the lawsuit claims.
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