DW.- The creator’s attorneys “Fortnite” Epic Games and Apple Inc will present opening arguments Monday in an antitrust lawsuit whose bottom line could affect the rapid growth of the company’s business. App Store de Apple.
The lawsuit, which Epic filed last year in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, focuses on two of Apple’s practices that have become cornerstones of its business: Apple’s requirement that it virtually everything third party software for the world’s billion iPhones be distributed through your App Store, and the requirement that developers use the Apple’s in-app purchase system, which charges commissions of up to 30 percent.
Apple retaliation
Epic broke Apple’s rules last year when it introduced its own payment system in the application in “Fornite” to circumnavigate the Apple commissions. In response, Apple kicked Epic out of its App Store.
Epic sued Apple, claiming the iPhone maker is abusing its app developer power with App Store review rules and payment requirements that harm competition in the software market. Epic also launched an aggressive public relations campaign to draw attention to its allegations just as Apple’s practices have come under scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators in the United States and elsewhere.
No free ride
Apple has countered Epic’s allegations by arguing that App Store rules have made consumers feel safe opening their wallets to unknown developers, helping to create a mass market from which all developers have benefited. Apple argues that Epic intentionally broke its contracts with Apple because the game’s maker wanted a free ride on the iPhone maker’s platform.
Epic is not asking for money damages, but is asking the court to make orders that would end many of Apple’s practices.
Judge Yvonne González Rogers will preside over the three-week trial in a courtroom in Oakland, California. It is expected that the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, and the head of Apple’s App Store, Phil Schiller, attend the trial in its entirety, and the proceedings will also feature in-person testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook and other top executives from both firms.
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