What you need to know
- Epic Games has filed to oppose a bid from Apple to stop an injunction against the company.
- A court in the Epic Games trial ruled Apple should stop preventing developers from sending people elsewhere to make purchases.
- Epic says denying the request is in the public interest.
Epic Games has filed an opposition to Apple's bid to stop an injunction against the company that was handed down as part of the Epic Games App Store trial.
As reported by Reuters:
"Fortnite" creator Epic Games on Friday opposed Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) efforts to put on hold orders handed down in an antitrust trial as a potentially lengthy appeals process plays out.
The Judge in case hard previously ruled that Apple should be "permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from 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."
At the time Apple welcomed the court's ruling that agreed it was not a monopoly or in violation of antitrust law. Epic Games was not happy with the ruling and moved to appeal first, with Apple filing its appeal more recently. Apple told the court that it "understands and respects the Court's concerns regarding communications between developers and consumers" and that it was working "through many complex issues across a global landscape, seeking to enhance information flow while protecting both the efficient functioning of the App Store and the security and privacy of Apple's customers." In the appeal, Apple stated it hoped to strike a balance such that court measures would not be necessary to fix the problem and asked for a delay to the aforementioned injunction.
Epic told the court Apple hadn't met the standard required for a pause, as it hadn't shown it would be irreparably harmed by complying with the order, even temporarily. It also highlighted how Apple had welcomed the ruling and said: "an injunction is the only path to effective relief" with history showing Apple would not make any changes without the injunction. A hearing is set for November 9 regarding Apple's request.
