The Apple vs. Epic Games legal battle is not over yet. Previously, the ruling required Apple to allow third-party payments. California’s Unfair Competition Law was being violated by Apple’s payment policies. The necessary change was to be made in 90 days.
Following this, both Apple and Epic Games appealed the ruling. However, Apple blacklisted Epic’s developer account on the App Store. Until the final, non-appealable judgment, Epic Games will be on the blacklist.
RULING PUT ON HOLD
Now, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has stayed one particular part of the previous ruling. Apple can for now, maintain its grip on the App Store payment rules. However, they did not reverse the ruling. The enforcement of the ruling is on hold until the appeals court decides on the matter. This process is expected to take months.
“Apple has demonstrated, at minimum, that its appeal raises serious questions on the merits of the district court’s determination,” the ruling reads. “Therefore, we grant Apple’s motion to stay part (i) of paragraph (1) of the permanent injunction. The stay will remain in effect until the mandate issues in this appeal.”
“If the same conduct is alleged to be both an antitrust violation and an ‘unfair’ business act or practice for the same reason—because it unreasonably restrains competition and harms consumers—the determination that the conduct is not an unreasonable restraint of trade necessarily implies that the conduct is not ‘unfair’ toward consumers.”
“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.”
– Marni Goldberg, Apple’s Spokesperson
The stay on the ruling does not impact the injunction’s second part concerning communication outside iOS.
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