Apple files appeal to block App Store competition order

Apple has filed an emergency appeal on Monday night to overturn a United States judge’s ruling that forces the company to open its App Store to more competition. The tech firm submitted the request to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, asking it to review a decision issued on April 30.The ruling accused Apple of ignoring a court order from 2021 tied to an antitrust case filed by Epic Games. The goal of the original lawsuit was to break Apple’s control over how it distributes applications and how payments are processed on iPhones. The recent ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, said Apple “willfully failed” to obey her previous order, which required the company to let developers direct users to cheaper third-party payment options.Gonzalez Rodgers mentioned that the company intentionally used delay tactics to disobey her ruling, refusing to let Apple pause the enforcement of her latest order, and referring the case to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal contempt investigation. One of Apple’s unnamed executives was also referred alongside the company. “Apple sought to maintain a revenue stream worth billions in direct defiance of this court’s injunction,” Gonzalez Rogers wrote in her decision, as first reported by Reuters.Apple slammed in court over “scare screens” and 27% feeAccording to the judge, Apple responded to the previous ruling by adding new policies that clashed with the intent of the court’s order. One of those policies was a fresh 27% fee slapped on developers whose customers made purchases outside the App Store. She said the fee was designed to block developers from fully benefiting from the order.She also criticized the company for deploying what she called “scare screens”, a pop-up warning that discouraged users from choosing third-party payment systems. The judge mentioned that the screens were aimed at intimidating users into staying in the Apple payment framework, despite the court ordering the company to stop interfering with alternative options.Apple, on its part, denied violating the 2021 injunction. The company’s court filing didn’t outline its full legal strategy but confirmed it would challenge the contempt finding and try to stop the order from being enforced. The company refused to comment further or offer any explanation for the 27% fee it enforced. The appeal now moves to the Ninth Circuit, but unless the court makes a move, Apple will start allowing payment choices outside its framework and stop using scare tactics to discourage developers.The post Apple files appeal to block App Store competition order first appeared on Coinfea.