GoKawiilApple has filed an application with the Supreme Court asking it to stay the Ninth Circuit’s mandate, which would send the case back to the District Court to determine what it can charge for purchases made outside the App Store. Here are the details.
A bit of context
Last year, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found Apple in contempt of a 2021 injunction related to off-App Store purchases.
The injunction prohibited Apple from blocking developers from including buttons or links to alternative purchasing mechanisms, and from communicating with users about those options using contact information obtained in-app. However, the injunction didn’t specify whether Apple could charge a commission on those external purchases.
From the ruling:
Apple Inc. and its officers, agents, servants, employees, and any person in active concert or participation with them (“Apple”), are hereby permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from (i) including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and (ii) communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.
After the injunction took effect, Apple updated its App Store rules to allow those links while still applying a commission, setting a fee of up to 27%.
That, in turn, led to the contempt ruling, with the court arguing that by charging that fee, Apple was violating the spirit of the injunction, even though the order itself did not mention or explicitly prohibit such commissions.
Following the contempt decision, the case went to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the District Court’s zero-commission rule and sent the case back to determine what commission Apple may charge.
Adding to the complexity of the case, Apple argues that the injunction improperly applies not just to Epic Games, but to all developers worldwide who distribute apps on the App Store’s U.S. storefront.
... continue reading