A federal judge in California has ruled that Apple deliberately defied a standing court order intended to open up competition in its App Store, leading to a criminal contempt referral to federal prosecutors.
The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, follows years of court cases between Apple and Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, over Apple’s grip on app distribution and in-app payment systems.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers stated that Apple ignored her 2021 injunction, which required the tech giant to allow app developers to direct users to alternative payment options outside Apple’s closed ecosystem.
Not only did Apple resist, it allegedly imposed new obstacles—like a 27% commission on off-app purchases—and deployed user warnings to deter alternative payment methods.
“This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do-overs once a party willfully disregards a court order,” the judge wrote.
Gonzalez Rogers has now referred Apple and its Vice President of Finance, Alex Roman, to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible criminal contempt proceedings. According to the judge, Roman’s testimony was “replete with misdirection and outright lies” about Apple’s compliance measures.
Internal court filings and documents also revealed that Apple CEO Tim Cook dismissed internal legal counsel urging the company to follow the injunction more faithfully.
From my point of view, this isn’t a story about fees or app design, but a challenge to the very core of Apple’s business model.
For years, the company has insisted that its tight control over the App Store is essential for user safety and experience. But this ruling punches a hole in that history, revealing what appears to be a strategy built on minimising competition while maximising control.
Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney called the ruling “a significant win for developers and consumers.” Speaking to reporters, he added: “It forces Apple to compete with other payment services rather than blocking them, and this is what we wanted all along.”
Sweeney also said Epic plans to relaunch Fortnite on Apple’s platform as early as next week, following the game’s removal in 2020 for bypassing Apple’s payment system.
On the implications, Apple is now barred from applying its new 27% external transaction fee and from limiting how developers communicate with users about payment options.
The company, however, said: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.”
Judge Gonzalez Rogers said that’s no longer up to her. “It will be for the executive branch to decide whether Apple should be deprived of the fruits of its violation, in addition to any penalty geared to deter future misconduct,” she wrote.
