The Epic and Apple legal saga goes to Europe as the Fortnite developer submits a new filing in the UK accusing the Cupertino company of abusing its "dominance" in the market.
The Epic and Apple legal saga takes a new turn with the Fortnite developer making a new filing in Europe against the Cupertino tech giant. In the documents that Epic filed recently with a court in the UK, the Fortnite developer slammed Apple for its action of removing Epic's popular game from the App Store. Epic claims that Apple is taking advantage of its "dominant position" in the market.
#macsecurity | #operatingsystem | Epic Games Expands Fortnite Legal Dispute With Apple to the UK https://t.co/Rl2bgsJgas — National Cyber Security (@NcsVentures) January 15, 2021
Epic's submission of new filings in a European court, alleging the Cupertino tech giant abused its market dominance, is the first step in the quest of the Fortnite developer to get Apple to reinstate its gaming app on the App Store in the UK. Epic hopes it will get a favorable decision if its complaint against Apple is heard by a UK court.
According to Epic's new legal filing in Europe, Apple reserved for itself the role of an app distributor and the payment processing mechanism for in-app content purchases for and by consumers using iPads and iPhones. Epic also alleged that the Cupertino tech company used "its position of dominance to charge unfair prices for the distribution of apps via the App Store and/or use of the Apple IAP." The Fortnite developer also cited the response of Apple to Epic's introduction of price competition for in-app content purchase within the Fortnite game as unfair and illegal. Epic Games is asking the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal to declare Apple's Fornite removal from its UK App Store as "unlawful."
At the same time, the Fortnite Developer is also asking the UK court to order Apple to remove its App Store's restriction on third-party in-app payment processing. Epic also asked the court to issue an order restraining the Cupertino tech giant from taking further action or threatening Epic concerning particular changes the company made to its Fortnite iOS app. The Fortnite developer's new filing is also asking the court to order Apple to reinstate Epic's Apple Developer Account. Finally, it asked the court to issue an order restraining Apple from making Epic's iOS software access as conditional in regards to its use of the App Store.
Tera Randall, the VP of Communications and Policy at Epic, in a statement to 9to5Mac, said that their company launched legal proceedings against the Cupertino tech giant and Google in the UK. She said that their move of submitting new filings in a UK court means they are expanding their fight against Apple in Europe to promote fair digital platform practices for both developers and consumers. "The legal proceedings, filed in London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, allege the conduct of both Apple and Google in their respective app stores is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of the UK's competition laws, substantially reducing competition in-app distribution and payment processes," Randall stated.
