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Tech giant Apple has been slammed for defying a 2021 court order, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accusing the company of willful non-compliance and suggesting federal prosecutors investigate for possible criminal contempt.
The scathing decision, issued yesterday, paints a damning picture of Apple’s efforts to maintain its iron grip on the App Store’s lucrative in-app payment system.
The trouble stems from a 2021 ruling in the high-profile legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. Judge Rogers ordered Apple to allow third-party developers to direct users to external websites for virtual transactions, bypassing Apple’s hefty 30% commission on in-app purchases.
But according to Rogers, Apple “willfully chose not to comply” by introducing a new fee structure designed to keep developers tethered to the App Store’s payment system. “Cook chose poorly,” Rogers wrote, referring to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and went further, accusing Apple’s VP of Finance, Alex Roman, of “outright lying under oath” to protect the company’s anti-competitive practices.
The judge’s ruling, reported by The Wall Street Journal, took the rare step of urging federal authorities to probe Apple for criminal contempt, signaling the severity of the company’s misconduct in her view. Apple, in response, stated it would comply with the court’s order but announced plans to appeal the ruling, setting the stage for another chapter in its ongoing legal saga.
This latest blow adds to Apple’s mounting challenges as it navigates antitrust scrutiny worldwide. For now, the tech titan’s attempt to sidestep the court’s directive has backfired spectacularly, leaving its App Store policies under a harsh spotlight. As the legal battle continues, the question remains: will Apple rethink its approach, or double down on its fight to control the app economy?
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