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Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accuses Apple of lying under oath and eliminates commissions for external paymentsopening the door to important changes in the application market.
Why is it important. The judge has ordered Apple to stop commissions on external purchases and have eliminated restrictions on how developers can lead users to alternative payment methods. This decision can be a before and after in the app industry … and cut billions of Apple’s annual revenues.
The sentence dismantles Apple’s strategy, which tried to avoid the 2021 court order charging a 27% commission for external purchases and installing “fear screens” to deter users from using options outside their ecosystem.
Between bambalins. The judge accused Apple’s Vice President of “Lying blatantly under oath” and has sent the case to the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate possible contempt crimes. According to judicial documents, Apple knew perfectly what he was doing and “at every moment he chose the most anti -competitive option.”
The magistrate also revealed that Tim Cook ignored the advice of Phil Schiller, head of the App Store, who advocated complying with the original order without charging commissions. “Cook chosen badly,” he said in A demolition failure of 80 pages.
The background. It all started in 2020 when Epic Games included in Fortnite its own payment systemcausing its immediate expulsion from the App Store. Although Apple He won most original litigation issuesThe judge ruled that the company was limiting the competition by preventing developers from informing users about payment alternatives.
The new sentence arrives after years of legal battle and dismantles the business model that represents an important part of the almost 100,000 million dollars that Apple enters annually for services.
What is happening. Epic Games has announced that Fortnite will return to the American App Store next week. His CEO, Tim Sweeney, has offered a “peace proposal”: if Apple applies this framework without worldwide commissions, Epic will return to all app store and leave all related litigation.
Meanwhile, Spotify has already sent an update of its application that will allow US users to see subscription prices, access external purchase links and change between different plans without going through the Apple payment system. The company considers this ruling as “the most important action to date” against Apple anti -competitive practices.
The big question. Will this sentence change the way in which all application stores operate? Epic is already positioning an attractive offer: since June, developers will not pay commissions for the first million dollars of income through their store.
This case could be a turning point, especially because it adds to the regulatory pressure that Apple already faces in Europe with the Digital Markets Law. For users, it means more payment options, possible discounts and a more transparent experience when buying digital content.
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