US Judge Criticizes Epic’s Decision to Bypass Apple’s App Store Policies

During yesterday’s hearing with Apple and Epic Games, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California criticized the game developer’s decision to bypass App Store policies and breach its contract with Apple, The Verge is reporting.

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Listening to arguments in Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Judge Rogers expressed skepticism about the game maker’s arguments, particularly its claim that its custom payment system did not pose a security threat to Apple because “it is a well-established company and partner.”

The three-hour hearing, which took place over Zoom, however, did not settle any of the open questions in Epic’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against.

“You did something, you lied about it by omission, by not being forthcoming. That’s the security issue. That’s the security issue!” Rogers told Epic, according to a report from CNN. “There are a lot of people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you guys did, but it’s still not honest.”

Judge Rogers said she was “not particularly persuaded” by Epic’s argument that Apple has bundled its App Store and in-app payment system together in violation of antitrust law. She also recommended that the case be taken to a jury trial in July next year to settle these issues permanently.

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