Apple must ease App Store rules, U.S. judge orders

September 11, 2021, 07.21 AM | Source: Reuters
Apple must ease App Store rules, U.S. judge orders

ILUSTRASI. Fortnite game download on Android operating system is seen in front of Apple logo


More Challenges Likely

Challenges to Apple's App Store rules are far from over. The ruling on Friday suggests they are more likely to play out in statehouses and capitals than in courtrooms.

Lawmakers in the United States and Europe are considering bills that would force Apple to allow third-party in-app payment systems, and South Korea's parliament has already passed such a law.

"What today’s ruling also makes clear is that antiquated antitrust laws cannot solely be fixed by the courts," Match Group, which has challenged Apple's practices in Europe and owns the popular dating app Tinder, said in a statement. "Apple and Google's monopolistic practices will only end when we bring our laws into the digital age, as South Korea did last week."

Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress said the ruling showed that courts alone will not address their concerns.

While Gonzalez Rogers did not find that Apple is a monopolist, she found that the trial showed Apple was violating California state competition and showed some "incipient antitrust violations" that required a nationwide remedy.

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John Newman, a law professor at the University of Miami, said the ruling leaves open avenues for U.S. regulators to challenge Apple in court. Reuters has previously reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is probing the iPhone maker.

The orders follow Apple's agreement last week with the Japan Fair Trade Commission, under which it eases rules for "reader" apps like Netflix Inc to provide a link to customers to sign up for a paid account outside of the app. Games are a larger portion of Apple's sales.

But whether the ruling eats in to that revenue depends on how Apple implements the changes.

"To some degree, Apple could make it so that its in-app payments are still the easiest to use," said Ben Bajarin, head of consumer technologies at Creative Strategies.

Shares of Alphabet Inc, whose Google unit operates an app store for Android smartphones and which Epic is also suing on antitrust charges, were down 1.7% late on Friday.

 

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Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari

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