Oakland, CA – A California federal judge deciding whether Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules ordered Apple for a second time Friday to produce documents, telling Apple’s counsel “the whole point” is to get documents relevant to Apple’s decision-making regarding its new 27% fee “and you didn’t do it.”
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ comments came at the start of the latest day in a high-stakes evidentiary hearing in Oakland into whether Apple Inc. has complied with her 2021 ruling that banned Apple from blocking developers from directing consumers to third-party websites outside Apple’s App Store to pay for goods and services.
The injunction was issued following a bench trial in Epic Games Inc.’s landmark fight with the tech giant over the App Store’s 30% commissions on in-app purchases. Epic, which makes popular video games like Fortnite, claimed Apple’s rules and commissions violated antitrust laws and unfairly kept competing app stores off Apple devices.
