War With Apple Continues, Epic Games Gets Microsoft Support And 35 Prosecutors

Doc. Epic Games

JAKARTA - Epic Games some time ago lost to Apple in a court of violation of the Anti-monopoly Law. However, Epic Games did not just give up.

As soon as the Epic Games vs Apple decision was issued, Epic appealed. When it comes to overturning a court ruling that acquitted Apple of infringement, Epic Games is now not alone, it has some strong allies.

On January 27, a large number of organizations including a coalition of 35 US state attorneys general, Microsoft, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EF) filed briefs supporting the Epic Games case with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

US state prosecutors argued district courts had mistakenly claimed the first section of the Sherman Act did not apply to unilateral contracts like the requirements Apple set for developers.

Quoting The Verge, Sunday, January 30, the court also did not properly weigh the disadvantages of anti-trust behavior that Apple claims against the benefits.

During the fight, Epic Games claimed Apple had a monopoly on iOS apps, and called for changes that would effectively force Apple to take a smaller profit on all transactions that go through the store.

If Epic Games succeeds in pushing Apple to accept alternative payments, for example, it will change the way Apple, the world's most profitable company, operates the highly profitable App Store.

Unfortunately, Epic Games had no luck, in this case, yesterday, as the judge ultimately ruled in favor of Apple in nine of the ten charges Epic Games filed against it, but both Epic Games and Apple appealed the missing pieces.

In the opening appeal filed last week, Epic Games argued that leaving the ruling would overturn established principles of the Antitrust Act and undermine sound antitrust policies.

“Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize the distribution of apps and in-app payment solutions for iPhone, holding back competition, and accumulating a super-competitive advantage in the nearly trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry. Apple must be held accountable for its behavior under a comprehensive rule of reason analysis," US state prosecutors said in the report.

As such, this court should find Apple's policies illegal under the Sherman Act. According to the EFF, this result will leave Apple free to continue to innovate for the benefit of its users, while allowing innovation to thrive outside Apple's walls as well.