Today (January 29), judicial officials from 35 states in the United States stated in the California Court of Appeal that Apple is monopolizing the distribution of applications through the App Store, thereby stifling competition.
According to reports, after the judge made a ruling in the Epic v. Apple case, the relevant joint statement has been submitted to the appeal process. Judicial officials in 35 states sided with Epic on this issue. In addition, Microsoft , Digital Economics Many parties, including law professors, lawyers, and organizations supporting Internet civil liberties, have expressed support for Epic in this case.
State judicial officials said: "Apple's behavior continues to harm application developers and millions of citizens. Apple continues to monopolize iPhone application distribution and in-app payment solutions, stifling competition, and destroying the nearly trillion-dollar smartphone market every year. Huge profits have been accumulated in the mobile phone industry."
In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice also challenged last year's ruling, saying in its submission that the court "committed several legal violations that could jeopardize effective antitrust enforcement." The U.S. Department of Justice said the court’s interpretation of the 1890 Sherman Act (the first antitrust law enacted by the U.S. Congress) was “narrow and wrongly excludes many anti-competitive agreements and practices from their protection."
Last year both Apple and Epic Games decided to appeal the original verdict because neither company was satisfied with the outcome of the trial, but overall last year's verdict was mostly not in favor of Epic. Epic's hope that the court would force Apple to support third-party app stores did not materialize.
Apple is expected to respond in March. The company said Thursday it believes Epic's lawsuit will fail and said it remains "committed to ensuring the App Store is a safe and secure marketplace for consumers and a tremendous opportunity for developers."
