Apple gets an important win in the Epic vs Apple case
A Federal Appeals court puts a pin on Epic’s quest to add links to external commerce options inside App Store apps
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In the ongoing and seemingly never-ending battle betweenFortnitemakerEpic GamesandiPhonemaker Apple, the latter just scored a major win, gaining a “permanent injunction” on a keySeptember 2021 rulingthat would’ve forced Apple to allow external links within App Store-hosted Apps to external transaction systems.
Inthe rulinghanded down Wednesday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Circuit Judges wrote thatApple’s appeal “raises serious questions” on the merits of the original district court’s ruling, and added that Apple “made a sufficient showing of irreparable harm” if the ruling remained.
The portion of theold rulingthat’s now stayed pending another appeal would’ve forced Apple to allow developers to include “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.”
This is a significant win for Apple, which was about to lose a piece of its vice-like control over itsApp Storeand the 15%-to-30% commissions it collects on every single in-app purchase.
Epic launched the case against Apple and the in-app transactions rule in August 2020 by bypassing Apple’s in-app purchase system and offering users direct links toFortnitein-app purchases. It was a gambit that, while intending to force Apple’s hand, also resulted in theremoval of Epic’s popular Fortnite gamefrom the iOS platform.
In a statement to TechRadar regarding the new ruling, Apple said, “We’re constantly evolving the App Store to help create an even better experience for our users and the incredibly talented community of iOS developers. Our concern is that these changes would have created new privacy and security risks, and disrupted the user experience customers love about the App Store. We want to thank the court for granting this stay while the appeals process continues.”
While Apple will no longer have to plan for allowing third-party transaction links, the portion that called for Apple to allow developers the ability to contact customers through links obtained via in-app registration may still stand.
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Does this mean this epic in-court battle is done? Unlikely, as Epic will surely appeal to another higher court and Apple will, as it’s done since day one, fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo.
A 38-year industry veteran andaward-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.
Lance Ulanoffmakes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, theToday Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.
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