The trial is set to stretch on for three weeks. "Our goal was to demonstrate to smartphone owners that removing the platform fees would result in savings for them," Sweeney said.Ĭross-examination of Sweeney will continue Tuesday. On Monday, Apple lawyer Doren asked Sweeney if the whole thing was a public relations stunt with the real aim of cutting costs for Epic at the expense of Apple's reputation. When Apple refused, Sweeney sued Apple, published a video parodying an old Apple advertisement and urged Fortnite gamers to rally around the #FreeFortnite hashtag.Įpic officials dubbed the campaign "Project Liberty." "Yes," Sweeney replied, noting that he knew Apple kicking Fortnite out of the app store was a possibility, yet he hoped it would make Apple "seriously reconsider its policy." "In August 2020, you as the shot caller at Epic chose to intentionally breach your contract with Apple?" Doren asked Sweeney. In Apple's line of questioning, Apple attorney Richard Doren pointed to Sweeney's decision last year to allow Fortnite players to pay for the game's currency using Epic's own payment processing system at a rate lower than Apple's, a violation of Apple's terms of service. Wearing a blue suit and tie instead of his usual T-shirt and cargo pants, Sweeney told the judge that when it comes to Apple's mobile ecosystem, he "loved it in the early days," but over time its policies have become increasingly restrictive. Rather, she argued that at the time the App Store was introduced, in 2008, it had become an industry standard for digital transactions on things like gaming platforms.Įpic CEO Tim Sweeney took the stand on Monday. "Epic demands that this court force Apple to allow in any and all third-party app stores so that they can distribute unreviewed and untested apps on all iOS devices," said Apple lawyer Karen Dunn.ĭunn said Apple did not create the 30% out of thin air. It is not an abuse of power, Apple attorneys argued, but a quality check on Apple's operating system, known as iOS. In its own opening statement, lawyers for Apple said the 30% fee helps ensure the company's privacy and security standards. "The most prevalent flower in the walled garden is the Venus flytrap." Each and every time they make an in-app purchase, a 30% tax is imposed," said Epic lawyer Katherine Forrest. "When they pick up their iPhones, users enter a different world. The judge addressed lawyers on Monday from a bench surrounded by plexiglass. An audio livestream of the proceedings is publicly available, but there are strict limitations on who is allowed into the trial because of pandemic-related health concerns. The trial is taking place in a mostly empty federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif. The 30% cut is necessary, according to Apple, to safeguard the privacy and safety of apps on Apple devices.Įpic estimates Apple's profit from its App Store's fees is nearly 80% - a stunning figure that Apple calls "simply wrong." Analysts say sales in this segment are especially important, considering how iPhone sales peaked years ago. The money made from the commission is an important and growing revenue stream for Apple, part of the fees and subscriptions that generated $54 billion in the last fiscal year. The court battle represents the most high-profile antitrust trial in the technology world in decades and also marks the most threatening legal case against Apple in years.Įpic accuses Apple of running its App Store as an illegal monopoly because it only allows in-app purchases on iPhones to be processed by Apple's own payment system on its more than 1 billion iPhones around the world - and it typically tacks on a 30% commission on every purchase.Įpic says that fee, which critics call "the Apple tax," is applied unfairly and falls heavily on smaller app developers, who then are at a disadvantage trying to compete with Apple's own apps that avoid the fee.
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