Appeals Court Allows Links to Payments Outside Apple App Store
BY PYMNTS | APRIL 24, 2023
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Developers may soon be able to offer links enabling payments outside Appleās App Store.
A United States appeals court upheld an earlier ruling in a case that said Apple can no longer prohibit such links, which developers want to use to avoid paying sales commissions to the tech giant, Reuters reported Monday (April 24).
The appeals court sided with Apple on nine other matters, however, including agreeing with an earlier ruling that Apple hasnāt violated antitrust laws.
These decisions were the latest in a case brought against Apple by Epic Games.
In a thread on Twitter, Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said that Apple prevailed at the appeals court with the finding that Epic didnāt prove its antitrust case.
āFortunately, the courtās positive decision rejecting Appleās anti-steering provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there,ā Sweeney added in the thread. āWeāre working on next steps.ā
Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTSā request for comment.
In a statement provided to Reuters, Apple said: āFor the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels. We respectfully disagree with the courtās ruling on the one remaining claim under state law and are considering further review.ā
The legal war between Apple and Epic stretches back to 2020, when Apple removed the Epic game Fortnite from the App Store after Epic created a workaround to avoid paying the 30% fee on customersā in-app purchases.
The case went to trial in May 2021, with the companies fighting over the App Store policies and whether Apple hinders competition.
At the appeals court, Epic sought to overturn a ruling that rejected much of its antitrust case against Appleās App Store, saying the lower court judge had āerredā when determining the App Storeās results and restrictions didnāt violate antitrust law.
Following the ruling announced Monday regarding links to payments outside the App Store, Apple said it may appeal the decision. It has 14 days to file such an appeal, according to the Reuters report.