The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled that some clauses of the decision issued last April, which accused Apple of violating a previous ruling, were “broad” and needed to be amended. However, the court upheld the majority of the conviction decision and refused to overturn the previous injunction against the company.
A panel of three judges amended the part that prevents Apple from imposing any commission or fees on purchases made outside its platform, and indicated that the judge needs to amend this part.
It is worth mentioning that Epic Games filed the lawsuit in 2020 with the aim of limiting Apple’s control over in-app purchases operating on iOS and its method of distribution to users. Although Apple won most aspects of the case, in a 2021 ruling it was forced to allow developers to add links within apps that direct users to alternative means of purchase.
Apple removed some restrictions but imposed new ones, including imposing a 27% commission on purchases made outside the App Store within seven days of a user clicking on the link, compared to a 30% commission on in-store purchases. Epic considered this measure to be aimed at circumventing the previous ruling and asked the court to punish Apple for contempt of court.
Last April, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple had violated the 2021 ruling and issued a new decision prohibiting the imposition of any commission on out-of-app purchases, and also referred the company to the federal prosecution to consider the possibility of bringing a criminal contempt charge.
Apple argued before the Court of Appeals that the new decision illegally expanded the scope of the original ruling, but the court rejected its arguments, confirming that the injunction does not apply to Epic Games alone.
