Epic v Apple Round 1 is in the books

[Hot Sauce 2,734]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/28/tech/apple-fortnite-epic-hearing/index.html

 

Quote

Judge Gonzalez Rogers looked skeptically at many of Epic's claims, explicitly telling the company several times in the hearing she was not persuaded by its arguments or its strategy.

Epic knew that it was breaching its contract with Apple when it published the update, but did it anyway, she said, accusing the company of dishonesty.

 

Quote

[Epic] also cited Apple's in-app payment system as an example of illegal tying — when a company bundles two products together for anti-competitive gain.

But there is no tying going on with Apple's in-app payment system, Gonzalez Rogers observed.

"I'm not particularly persuaded," she said of the in-app payment mechanism. "I just don't see this as a separate and distinct product."

 

Quote

Nor did the judge buy Epic's argument that Apple has harmed the distribution of Fortnite because of Apple's exclusive control of the iOS App Store. Fortnite players on iOS have a variety of choices to access the game even if it is no longer available on iOS, she said.

"Walled gardens have existed for decades," she said. "Nintendo has had a walled garden. Sony has had a walled garden. Microsoft has had a walled garden. What Apple's doing is not much different... It's hard to ignore the economics of the industry, which is what you're asking me to do."

 

The article doesn't mention it, but Epic countered with consoles selling at a loss justifying the walled gardens. Judge disagreed and said that 'lacked evidence.'

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2020/09/28/epic-games-apple-dispute-possible-jury-trial/

 

Quote

Epic said that it wants to create its own store to distribute apps on iOS, but Apple's anticompetitive behavior prohibits it. In response, Apple's lawyers said the request was an indictment of Apple's "entire business model" focused on the "safety, security, and privacy of its users."

 

Judge Rogers questioned Epic on when, exactly Apple became a monopoly given that its ‌App Store‌ rules have remained unchanged since the ‌App Store‌ launched, which Epic had no solid answer for, responding only that it was a monopoly when Fortnite came to iOS in 2018.

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-battle-with-epic-over-fortnite-could-reach-jury-trial-next-july/

 

Quote

While Rogers didn't reach an immediate conclusion on whether Fortnite should return to the App Store in the interim, she did suggest a compromise. She said that Apple could allow Fortnite back on the App Store if the money collected by Epic in the meantime was held in an escrow account for the duration of the trial. 

 

Apple's lawyers said they would have to confer with the company, although they noted that the suggestion would address some of the issues. But Epic's lawyers immediately shot down the idea, saying the court should not provide assistance to "unlawful provisions by monopolists."

 

"I didn't buy that argument before I'm not particularly impressed with it now," said Rogers in reply.

 

Oh lawd

[madmaltese★ 2,588]

Apple 1 - 0 Epic

[Teh_Diplomat 2,054]

me rn just collecting over 140 games on EGS, and not caring about this Fortnite disupute: 

[Hot Sauce 2,734]

35 minutes ago, Teh_Diplomat said:

me rn just collecting over 140 games on EGS, and not caring about this Fortnite disupute: 

 

If Epic wins they'll get more money, which could mean more free games. 

[Tears of the Cows 1,213]

Epic has no chance to win, you can’t break a contract and then say it wasn’t fair. 

[ChupacabraIII 134]

lmao Brostz sig with the Photobucket watermark is perfect

[jehurey 3,273]

Epic is mostly waiting for EU Regulators to make their move against apple.

 

And they definitely will.