May 12, 2021
A California federal judge presiding over Epic's high-stakes antitrust trial appeared skeptical Wednesday of a professor's testimony that Apple's anti-steering provisions are akin to restrictions upheld by the high court in Ohio v. American Express, noting that brick-and-mortar stores advertise various payment methods, while the virtual App Store does not.
May 11, 2021
A top Apple executive told company CEO Tim Cook in 2013 that getting customers to use Apple virtual stores like iTunes is "one of the best things we can do to get people hooked to the ecosystem," according to an email revealed Tuesday during Epic Games Inc.'s high-stakes antitrust bench trial.
May 10, 2021
A University College London economics professor hired by Epic Games Inc. testified in a high-stakes antitrust bench trial Monday that Apple Inc. has monopoly power over the iOS app-distribution market, and that if the tech giant reduced its commission fee from 30% to 6.8% in 2019, it would have still earned $1 billion in App Store profits.
May 07, 2021
An Apple senior director defended the company's app-review process Friday during an antitrust bench trial between the tech giant and Epic Games, testifying that although Apple has approved some potentially offensive apps, including a school-shooting game app, such mistakes are rare and "we catch the vast majority of issues."
May 07, 2021
Epic Games is expected to call its antitrust heavyweights during the second week of the high-stakes California federal bench trial over Apple's App Store fees and payment policies, with back-to-back economists taking the stand starting Monday before Epic wraps its case in chief later in the week.
May 06, 2021
An Apple App Store executive testified in an antitrust bench trial Thursday that he was "blindsided" by Epic CEO's announcement last summer that Epic had used a workaround to cut Apple out of payments for its game Fortnite, recalling that until then Apple had promoted Fortnite and its virtual concerts.
May 06, 2021
A Microsoft executive testified Wednesday during a tense examination by Apple's attorney on the third day of a high-stakes antitrust bench trial that Microsoft makes $600 million to $700 million annually from Epic Games, apparently revealing nonpublic information on the stand.
May 04, 2021
A yoga app maker's CEO said he feared Apple would retaliate against his testimony in Epic Games' landmark antitrust suit as he ripped into the App Store's payment policies on the second day of trial Tuesday, calling them inconsistent and unfair to consumers and developers.
May 03, 2021
Apple and Epic Games squared off Monday before a California federal judge on the opening day of a high-stakes antitrust bench trial, with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney testifying that the Apple App Store's anti-competitive policies and fees have cost the Fortnite maker millions in revenue it could have reinvested in its business.
April 28, 2021
A California federal magistrate judge on Wednesday refused to let Apple claw back a trio of documents in Epic Games' App Store antitrust suit against the tech giant, finding that simply copying an attorney on an employee email chain does not necessarily make an email privileged.