Apple and its App Store accuse a heavy judicial setback in the United States-Liberation
Has Apple pushed the plug a little too far? In an unprecedented and scathing decision, a federal judge from Oakland (California), Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, accused the American multinational on Wednesday, April 30, of not having folded his verdict made more than three years ago. In September 2021, the magistrate demanded that the company Opens iPhones to other application shops than the App Store (his). However, according to her, Apple would have tried to duper them by pretending to comply with the rules. Consequence: it takes a series of historical measures, marking the end of an era of omnipotence for the box.
As a reminder, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had in 2021 estimated that the apple firm could no longer impose on apps editors to go through the App Store as well as by its payment system. This judgment resulted froma long and muscular procedure began by the publisher of video games Epic Gamescreator in particular of the game Fortnite, Who accused the group of Cupertino (California) of abuse of a dominant position. In this case, the multinational took advantage of its situation by imposing, according to him, commission costs far too high, up to 30 %.
However, more than three years later, the observation is bitter: Apple would have taken American judges for truffles. According to the judge, the company « chose not to comply with the injunction of this court ”. How ? By creating « New anti -competitive barriers to preserve a precious source of income ». In this case, by setting up a new commission for transactions carried out outside its shop (up to 27 %) which did not exist before. Still according to the magistrate, the company has used technical messages and tools to « Dissuriating users from making their purchases differently » only on the app store.
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers says that The boss of Apple, Tim Cook, In addition to the advice of a historical framework of the group, Phil Schiller, who suggested applying the terms of the judgment. She also accuses an Apple finance service manager of having lied to court while he was heard under oath.
Therefore, in her decision, she hits hard. No longer leaving Apple a second chance, she ordered him not to take any commission on the transactions carried out outside his application shop. A practice that hitherto constituted one of the pillars of its economic model. She also intimate him not to send a message to users who wish to go through a shop or a third party application, except to tell them that they do not go through the App Store.
On the basis of his findings, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will make a report with the Federal Prosecutor of Northern California, Patrick Robbins, so that he determines if criminal proceedings must be engaged against Apple. « The fact that Apple thought that this court to tolerate such insubordination was a serious error of calculation »says Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
« We are deeply disagreement with this decision »Apple spokesperson told AFP. Before indicating: « We are going to comply with the court injunctions and appeal. » The group had appealed the initial judgment before the Supreme Court, but the highest American court had refused to take up the file. « There will be no more commissions on online transactions »reacted the boss of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, on X (ex-Twitter). In other words: « It’s the end of the Apple tax ».
In Europe, the regulations on digital markets (« Digital Markets Act » or DMA), which entered into force last year, obliges the six largest world players in tech, including Apple, to open their platforms to competition. In electronic exchanges after the fence of Wall Street, the Apple title abandoned more than 1 %.
