Federal Judge Hits Apple Exec With Criminal Referral Over ‘Obvious Lies’

Five years ago, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple for its in-app purchase policies. Since then, things mostly haven’t worked out in Epic’s favor. But this week, a federal judge rebuked Apple for “willfully violating” an earlier injunction. Coupled with claims that a top Apple executive lied under oath and a referral for criminal contempt, Epic may have secured a major victory for developers. Epic’s lawsuit stems from its intentionally violating App Store policies by offering mobile users a direct payment option for in-game purchases. This circumvented Apple’s 30% commission on in-App Store purchases. In response, Apple (and Google, who Epic also sued) removed Fortnite from mobile stores. And thus, Epic formally launched Project Liberty to dismantle Apple’s monopoly on mobile gaming. But in 2021, United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Roger largely ruled in Apple’s favor and even ordered Epic to pay Apple lost revenue. However, she did r ... Read full article.