Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is pissed off at Apple. Really, really pissed off.
In Rogers’ newly released 80-page decision, she took Apple and its executives to task for defying the court’s orders in its original case with Fortnite maker Epic Games. Though Apple largely won that round, as it was determined the tech giant was not a monopolist, the court decided that Apple was behaving in an anticompetitive fashion in one specific area: by not allowing app developers to offer their customers other ways to pay outside of Apple’s own payment platform.
The judge ruled that developers should be able to link to other ways to make purchases from inside their apps, so they could process payments via their own website and payment systems. In doing so, developers should have been able to forgo paying Apple’s 30% commission on in-app purchases.
Apple, however, made it even more onerous for any developers who chose this option. It only dropped its commission to 27% for these outside purchases and added “scare screens”: warnings to dissuade customers who may have been tempted to go the route of outside purchases. With only a 3% discount off Apple’s original commission, this method could end up costing developers even more when their own payment processing fees were taken into consideration.
As a result, Apple protected its lucrative App Store business model at the expense of its reputation, its relationship with the iOS developer community, and its good standing in the eyes of the law.
In Rogers’ decision, it’s clear she’s had enough of Apple’s tactics, and the ruling is full of juicy tidbits where she clearly expresses so.
Apple responded to the court’s ruling with the following statement: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we w …