Epic asks U.S. Supreme Court to enforce lower court's App Store order - General Discussion Discussions on AppleInsider Forums
Epic Games is appealing to the US Supreme Court to support a recent decision made by a lower court, aiming for the top court to reinstate a pause on Apple and compel the company to comply with App Store payment systems.
Epic Games' advertisement resembling the renowned novel "1984" as a means to criticize Apple
Although most of the legal judgments in the Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit have favored Apple, there is one particular aspect where Apple did not win – the anti-steering regulations in the online marketplace. As to be expected, Apple has appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of overturning the decision made by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Due to the submitted plea, Apple has the ability to practically postpone significant modifications to the App Store. In essence, the company now possesses a period of 90 days before it must implement any alterations, and this timeframe could potentially extend if the Supreme Court agrees to review the lawsuit.
According to a recent report by Reuters, Epic Games is dissatisfied with the current situation. The game developer behind the highly successful battle royale game Fortnite has taken a step forward by requesting the nation's highest court to overturn the decision made by the lower court.
As of the time this blog was published, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has not made any decisions regarding this specific case. They have yet to either accept Apple's appeal or address Epic's appeals.
Epic's Battle With Apple
The topic of Apple's App Store profit sharing has sparked a lot of debate, particularly for companies like Epic. Apple's regulations on discouraging redirection aim to restrict the methods through which external developers and businesses can guide users towards purchasing items or subscribing to services directly, rather than through the App Store.
The initial judgment on Apple's rules against steering was pronounced in September 2021 in the context of the legal battle between Epic Games and Apple. Despite winning nine out of ten claims, both parties decided to challenge the rulings.
It all started in 2020 when Epic Games decided to make a modification to Fortnite, enabling players to bypass Apple's payment system and instead directly pay Epic Games. Apple's policies don't permit companies to evade the official payment system provided by Apple when conducting transactions via the App Store.
Consequently, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store, informing Epic Games that if they made changes to the game by eliminating the new payment system option, it could be reinstated. However, Epic Games declined and promptly filed a lawsuit against Apple on the same day they updated the game.
