Apple Says App Store Changes Go Too Far in New Epic Games Appeal Filing

The tribunal bid that required Apple to alteration its anti-steering App Store rules is unlawful and unconstitutional, Apple said contiguous successful a reply little directed astatine Epic Games and filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Apple argues that it has been stripped of its rights to beryllium compensated for its intelligence spot successful a ruling that sets a unsafe precedent for each companies.


Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been overseeing the Apple vs. ‌Epic Games‌ lawsuit, archetypal ordered Apple successful 2021 to fto developers adhd in-app links directing customers to third-party acquisition options connected the web. Apple didn't person to instrumentality the changes until 2024, and erstwhile it did, Apple charged a 12 to 27 percent interest for purchases made done links successful an app. ‌Epic Games‌ went backmost to the judge and said Apple was charging "unjustified fees" and should beryllium held successful contempt of court.

Gonzalez Rogers agreed with Epic and said that Apple was successful "willful violation" of the archetypal order. In April 2025, Apple was fixed a overmuch much circumstantial mandate to let linking with nary fees and nary power implicit however links are presented successful an app, which was a triumph for ‌Epic Games‌ and for different app developers unhappy with paying fees to nexus retired to the web. Apple implemented the changes, but appealed the ruling.

According to Apple, the 12 to 27 percent interest that it was charging and the rules that it had implemented astir nexus plan complied with the archetypal order. The April ruling [PDF] forcing Apple to instrumentality ‌App Store‌ changes said that Apple had not followed the "spirit of the injunction" and had alternatively utilized a "dubiously literal interpretation," a constituent that Epic emphasized successful its ain filing with the court. In response, Apple argues that this is simply a anemic statement that led to the injunction being expanded beyond what is permissible by law.

The caller injunction imposes, successful meticulous detail, caller plan and formatting rules and dictates the messages that Apple whitethorn convey to its ain users connected its ain platform. These requirements correspond an improper enlargement and modification of the archetypal injunction—rather than an effort to enforce compliance with the archetypal injunction—and interruption the First Amendment by forcing Apple to convey messages it disagrees with. Epic doubles down connected the territory court’s accent connected the “spirit” of the archetypal injunction and Apple’s expected atrocious faith, but civilian contempt turns connected whether a enactment has violated the existent presumption of an injunction—which Epic does not meaningfully effort to show

Apple says it deserves to beryllium compensated for its IP protected technologies, and that the bid removing its rights is unconstitutional due to the fact that it extended the presumption of the archetypal injunction. Apple believes that the tribunal should person forced compliance with the archetypal injunction alternatively than rewriting the injunction with caller presumption that let for nary fees astatine all.

The territory court’s sweeping caller zero-commission regularisation besides is not tailored to Epic’s claimed harm, improperly imposes a punitive sanction, and effects an unconstitutional taking.

Should the Ninth Circuit Court find the updated injunction lawful, Apple suggests that the caller Trump v. Casa Supreme Court ruling [PDF] needs to beryllium considered. The ruling said courts bash not person the authorization to contented cosmopolitan injunctions that are "broader than indispensable to supply implicit relief" to the plaintiffs successful the case. ‌Epic Games‌ is the lone plaintiff successful the case, truthful Apple besides argues that the injunction changing the ‌App Store‌ rules for each developers is excessively broad. Apple says that the injunction should beryllium tailored to Epic and Epic's interests alone.

Apple wants the caller injunction vacated, and the archetypal injunction reconsidered to find whether it is excessively broad.

As of close now, Apple is required to let each developers successful the U.S. to supply links to outer websites with nary restrictions connected nexus plan and nary fees. If the appeals tribunal rules successful Apple's favor, Apple could alteration its ‌App Store‌ rules again to reimplement fees.
This article, "Apple Says App Store Changes Go Too Far successful New Epic Games Appeal Filing" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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