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- The next round in the App Store dispute between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Epic Games got underway Thursday as the Fortnite publisher asked a federal appeals court to vacate a prior ruling that mostly favored the world's most-valuable company.
- Epic asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reject a lower court's ruling in September 2021 on the grounds that the decision was incorrect in determining that Apple's (AAPL) App Store restrictions and other rules didn't violate federal antitrust law. Epic wants the Ninth Circuit to overturn the decision and send the case back to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, Calif.
- At issue are Epic's claims that Apple (AAPL) has run its App Store as a monopoly by not allowing app and game developers to offer payment options other than Apple's (AAPL). Epic's main argument was that Apple (AAPL) was using its size to keep developers from earning as much as possible from their apps by locking consumer into Apple's (AAPL) own payment option. Apple (AAPL) booted Epic's Fortnite app from the App Store after Epic had developed a workaround method so that it wouldn't have to pay a 30% fee on its customers in-app purchases.
- Gonzalez sided with Epic and ordered Apple (AAPL) to let developers offer alternate payment methods for their apps, but steered clear of declaring Apple (AAPL) to be a monopoly. Apple (AAPL) is expected to continue fighting against Epic and its antitrust claims.
- Earlier Thursday, CNBC reported that Apple (AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook spoke with Sen. Ted Cruz [R.-Texas] for 40 minutes on Wednesday about antitrust legislation that is currently being discussed in Congress.