On Wednesday, a federal judge in State of California said, that Apple violated her legal order to offer Americans more options which will enable them make digital purchases from iPhone apps. She went ahead to refer the case to prosecutors for potential criminal investigation into the company and a top finance executive.
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, United States (US) District Judge, condemned the conduct of Tim Cook, Apple CEO and two key finance executives in her ruling, writing that one of the finance executives had “outright lied under oath” to conceal Apple’s defiance of her order.
Via a statement, Apple said, “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
In 2021, the company was ordered to stop requiring app developers to offer any digital purchases through its own payment system, from which Apple receives a commission of up to 30%.
The new ruling toughening that order could force dramatic changes in experiences of Americans with iPhone and iPad apps.
If app developers have more latitude in how they charge for the digital products they sell, they might reduce the prices of virtual weapons in video games, streaming music and online fitness subscriptions, among other purchases.
The ruling on Wednesday against Tech giant, Apple, is coming following a lawsuit filed in 2020 by Epic Games, the maker of mobile games including the Fortnite series.
In 2021, the judge ruled partly in favor of Apple, saying the company didn’t violate federal anti-monopoly laws in how it oversaw its app store for iPhones and iPads. However, Epic emerged victorious in part of the case, with the judge discovering that Apple broke state competition law by forcing app makers to route any digital purchases through Apple’s payment system.
Apple was given the order to allow app makers more flexibility in how they charged for their apps, services and digital goods.
