A California federal judge repeatedly warned Apple and Epic Games’s counsel Monday that she’ll sanction attorneys for any “nastiness” as their antitrust fight heads toward a May bench trial, and also aired concerns the public has maxed out the court’s Zoom license and posted bootlegged videos of some hearings online, reports Law360 (a subscription is required to read tiger entire article).
On Aug. 13, Epic Games introduced a new direct payment option in the Fortnite app for iPhone and iPad, allowing players to purchase 1000 V-Bucks for US$7.99 rather than $9.99 through Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism. Shortly thereafter, Apple removed the gamer from the App Store and canceled its developer account for violating App Store policies.
Epic immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Both companies have requested the matter be decided by the court. Previously, Apple wanted a jury trial, but has withdrawn the request to streamline proceedings after a California judge hinted that a jury trial probably wouldn’t start until July 2021.
(Dennis Sellers has been covering the Apple industry since 1996. In addition to“Apple World Today,” he also runs his own freelance writing/editing service. If you want more info about the latter, email him at dennis.sellers@comcast.net.)
