When the US Supreme Court upheld the court ruling in the Apple vs Epic Games case, I said that the iPhone maker’s response was clearly made in bad faith, and was effectively giving the middle finger to the judge in the case.The judge has now officially confirmed this view.She has not only directly called out Apple for ignoring her ruling, but said that a senior Apple exec lied under oath, and referred the matter for prosecution … I’m not a fan of using bold text for emphasis, but I really have to on this occasion to emphasise just how utterly insane and incredible this is: The judge declared that Apple’s VP of Finance Alex Roman .
Apple knew this and did not comply with its legal obligation to correct the record.The matter has now been referred to the US Attorney for criminal investigation.Roman could literally be sent to jail for this, with Apple also subject to criminal sanctions.
The insane history of this dispute Epic Games flouted Apple’s App Store rules by introducing its own in-app payment system, bypassing Apple’s 30% commission.That was a blatant breach of Apple’s rules, and the company threw its games out of the App Store.So far, no big deal, a simple civil dispute.
The two companies went to court, and That also needs to be emphasised here, because the company could have taken the win – the finding that the App Store is not a monopoly – and gone home happy.The area where Apple lost is that Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Epic (or any other developer) is allowed to make in-app sales without the iPhone maker taking a cut.Most developers weren’t going to bother, so the financial loss to Apple would have been pretty small.
But Apple chose to flout the entire intent of the judge’s ruling, and announced that it would continue to demand commission even on sales made outside the App Store.That was clearly a ridiculous response.Epic went back to court to accuse Apple of acting in bad-faith, and the judge strongly implied she agreed, and that Apple was lying about its motivation.
She demanded that the iPhone maker hand over all its internal documents relating to the decision.When Apple claimed it had not been able to comply by the deadline, a second judge said he too thought the company was lying.That’s two separate judges saying that one of the biggest companies in the world is probably lying.
But now it’s official: Apple lied under oath Rogers, the judge in the original case, wanted time to study Apple’s documents to find out whether or not the company lied.She’s now returned with an 80-page order which finds that: Yes, Apple deliberately set out to subvert the clear intent of her ruling Yes, Apple lied in an attempt to cover up its subversion of her ruling Specifically, Apple’s finance VP Alex Roman So now both a senior Apple exec and the company face a investigation.This is, as I said earlier, utterly insane – massively more so when you consider this was one of the richest companies in the world lying in a vain attempt to prevent a rather trivial loss of income.
I said at the time: It was obvious to me that Apple was making a dumb decision, but I had no idea then just dumb! The judge herself cited the oft-quoted adage that it’s always the cover-up that gets you.It’s the cover-up that has turned this from a civil matter into a criminal one.Today is Apple’s chance to put things right We outlined yesterday the three options now open to Apple: Fully comply with the ruling Try to negotiate a compromise Appeal The only sane one of the three is the first.
Anything else simply drags this out even further, with even further embarrassment to the company.We can guarantee that Apple will be asked about this in today’s earnings call.This is the perfect opportunity for the company to admit its mistakes, apologize for them, announce that it will be fully complying with the judge’s ruling, and try to finally put this mess behind them.
That won’t necessarily end things completely – criminal prosecutions may yet follow – but it’s the best shot the company has.I just wish I believed the company will do it.Highlighted accessories Anker 511 Nano Pro ultra-compact iPhone charger Spigen MagFit case for iPhone 16e – adds MagSafe support Apple MagSafe Charger with 25w power for iPhone 16 models Apple 30W charger for above Anker 240W braided USB-C to USB-C cable You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day.
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