Apple announced Monday that it had appealed a ruling by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers that ordered the company to immediately stop charging fees on purchases made outside its App Store and to allow in-app links to third-party payment systems.
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After the ruling was announced, Apple expressed categorical disagreement with it, noting that, despite the protest, it would comply with the decision but would file an appeal.
Today, it became known that the company filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A few days earlier, it made changes to the “App Store Guidelines” for developers, allowing them to add links to third-party payment systems in their apps.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Apple, ruled in 2021 to lift the ban on such links. However, Apple responded by imposing a 27% commission on purchases made outside the App Store.
The case was reopened last year after Epic Games claimed Apple had violated a court order. The judge agreed with Epic’s arguments and found Apple had failed to comply with the court order by barring the company from charging fees for purchases outside the App Store and from blocking links to third-party payment systems.
The judge also ruled that Apple’s vice president of finance, Alex Roman, lied under oath and referred the case to federal prosecutors for possible criminal prosecution. Apple was also sanctioned for “abusing attorney-client privilege to delay litigation.”