Apple Fails to Block $995M UK App Store Commission Lawsuit

[MacRumors]

A UK class action lawsuit against Apple over App Store commission fees will proceed after judges dismissed the company's attempt to block the case, Bloomberg reports.

Led by competition policy professor Sean Ennis, the suit alleges Apple's 15-30% commission on App Store sales creates an anti-competitive tax on the UK technology industry. The lawsuit seeks £785 million ($995 million) in damages on behalf of UK app developers. The case could potentially benefit up to 13,000 developers who have sold apps or in-app subscriptions to iOS users since July 2017.

The lawsuit follows similar challenges worldwide over Apple's App Store policies. Apple in January announced changes to its App Store terms in response to European Union regulations, but these modifications have also faced criticism from EU watchdogs for potentially making conditions worse for developers.

This latest legal challenge expands on a previous suit filed last year, which initially represented around 1,500 UK developers. Professor Ennis, who previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission, secured funding for the case through Harbour Litigation Funding.

Apple has consistently defended its App Store practices, maintaining that most developers pay no commission and that the platform provides valuable security and development resources. The company also emphasizes that developers can reach users through web browsers, where Apple's rules don't apply.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Fails to Block $995M UK App Store Commission Lawsuit

 

[Techwatcher]

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol

 

[myuserid08]

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol

You can't blame Brexit, they didn't have a clue before it happened!

 

[I7guy]

Yep just leave the UK. Why do I have a feeling that no matter the merits, apple will lose.

 

[gusping]

Lol at all the people who think things have dramatically changed since Brexit. They haven’t got a clue about the underlying legislation. Worry about Trump, first.

 

[gigapocket1]

Starting to feel like Apple is the world wide punching bag to get back at the USA.. Similar to how Huawei is for us.....

 

[cjsuk]

I'm really wondering who is going to get the £785 million?

 

[cjsuk]

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol

Amazing that despite this we managed to elect a Oxford Civil Law graduate as our Prime Minister instead of a convict.

 

[dantay]

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol

Lol……you guys just elected a convicted felon for president and have more deaths from opioid overdoses than cancer or heart disease. People in glass houses that big shouldn’t even glance at a stone.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Amazing that despite this we managed to elect a Oxford Civil Law graduate as our Prime Minister instead of a convict.

Ehh, you win some you lose some

 

[gusping]

Starting to feel like Apple is the world wide punching bag to get back at the USA.. Similar to how Huawei is for us.....

It's a balance. We shouldn't let these large corporates go unchecked, but I also think some of what the EU has done, or is proposing to do, may well be a step too far. You can't win either way, as some group will complain.

 

[Total Respray]

Or UK could straight up just demand $1bn like Indonesia and not worry about all the legal hurdles…

 

[I7guy]

It's a balance. We shouldn't let these large corporates go unchecked,

I would agree: if they were know position to cause your health to fails, or delivered life critical products etc. but apple delivers discretionary purchased lifestyle products.

but I also think some of what the EU has done, or is proposing to do, may well be a step too far. You can't win either way, as some group will complain.

Absolutely.

 

[.wojtek]

Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything

LOL, Yes. apple should basically leave the world xD

 

[spazzcat]

Where is the Google, Sony, Steam, Nintendo, Xbox, etc lawsuit?

 

[Stevez67]

How is the AppStore commission structure anti-competitive against UK developers if everyone has to pay it no matter where they are in the world?

 

[Hammerd]

I'm really wondering who is going to get the £785 million?

Law firms

 

[Gabebear]

Where is the Google, Sony, Steam, Nintendo, Xbox, etc lawsuit?

Google has a basically identical lawsuit. The "game consoles" do seems to be lawsuit free so far. I think Apple should just put a joystick on the UK versions of the iPhone and call it a game console... viola!

In reality if the portable PS5 that Sony is working on of the new Nintendo Switch has a cell connection it would make it pretty justifiable for Apple to call their phone a "game console". The non-portable game consoles are already indistinguishable from desktop computers but somehow the law treats each differently depending on what the company markets them as.

 

[theluggage]

It's a balance. We shouldn't let these large corporates go unchecked, but I also think some of what the EU has done, or is proposing to do, may well be a step too far. You can't win either way, as some group will complain.

I guess it comes down to whether you think Apple have a dominant position in a market that they are using in an anticompetitive fashion. The "dominant position" is arguable in the case of mobile apps, especially the "paid app" market.

If you were a developer and wanted to release an app (or maybe a retail/finance/entertainment business who needed to offer an 'App' to stay current) could you afford to ignore iOS?

...but even then, the next question is are they actually abusing it? 15-30% commission to cover listing, distribution, some promotion, payment processing and some level of security verification/signing always sounded like a good deal to me - especially for smaller players.

Starting to feel like Apple is the world wide punching bag to get back at the USA.

Then the USA should stop punching itself:

Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets

The Justice Department, joined by 16 other state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

www.justice.gov

 

[GMShadow]

Amazing that despite this we managed to elect a Oxford Civil Law graduate as our Prime Minister instead of a convict.

And he's brought to you by Blackrock! So cool!

Then the USA should stop punching itself:

Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets

The Justice Department, joined by 16 other state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple for monopolization or attempted monopolization of smartphone markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

www.justice.gov

It'll be withdrawn in short order - the illegal collusion with the EU on such matters is coming to a rapid end.

 

[sw1tcher]

Where is the Google, Sony, Steam, Nintendo, Xbox, etc lawsuit?

Are you asking for an update to the lawsuit where Alphabet/Google are being sued for £7 billion?

Hausfeld: UK Competition Court Throws Out Google’s Challenge to £7bn Consumer Lawsuit, Paving Way for Full Court Showdown

UK antitrust court piles further pressure on Google by giving "unanimous" approval for search-engine consumer compensation claim to proceed

www.businesswire.com

The lawsuit against Sony for $7.9 billion?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/sony-facing-79-bln-mass-lawsuit-over-playstation-store-prices-2023-11-21/

Nintendo paid their fine decades ago

Europe Fines Nintendo $147 Million for Price Fixing (Published 2002)

European Commission fines Nintendo $147 million for colluding with seven European distributors to fix prices on its products; says Nintendo organized cartel that lasted from 1991 to 1998 and allowed company to keep prices for its games and game consoles artificially high in some countries...

www.nytimes.com

Microsoft got sued today by the UK for allegedly overcharging rival cloud firms’ customers

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/03/microsoft-overcharging-rival-cloud-firms-customers-uk-lawsuit-says.html

I guess a suit against Apple is going too far? 🤷‍♂️

 

[H2SO4]

Amazing that despite this we managed to elect a Oxford Civil Law graduate as our Prime Minister instead of a convict.

Yes, but our countries situations aren't a million miles apart on the disaster scale.

 

[spazzcat]

Are you asking for an update to the lawsuit where Alphabet/Google are being sued for £7 billion?

Hausfeld: UK Competition Court Throws Out Google’s Challenge to £7bn Consumer Lawsuit, Paving Way for Full Court Showdown

UK antitrust court piles further pressure on Google by giving "unanimous" approval for search-engine consumer compensation claim to proceed

www.businesswire.com

The lawsuit against Sony for $7.9 billion?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/sony-facing-79-bln-mass-lawsuit-over-playstation-store-prices-2023-11-21/

Nintendo paid their fine decades ago

Europe Fines Nintendo $147 Million for Price Fixing (Published 2002)

European Commission fines Nintendo $147 million for colluding with seven European distributors to fix prices on its products; says Nintendo organized cartel that lasted from 1991 to 1998 and allowed company to keep prices for its games and game consoles artificially high in some countries...

www.nytimes.com

I guess a suit against Apple is going too far? 🤷‍♂️

As long as everyone is getting sue I say let the courts figure it out.

 

[mikebenton]

The sense of entitlement extends beyond millennials to the EU and UK. Apple built the iPhone and supporting platforms to support the iPhone. For a developer, they created (with no assistance from outside organizations) a market where folks could make a living. You can create physical things like cases....you can create software. If Apple had not created any of this....there would be no iPhone app to create. What is so hard about paying a fee to participate in a market that you had absolutely nothing to do with creating? I don't understand why folks feel they are entitled to sell their iPhone products with no fees to Apple. It's not anti-competitive - everyone pays the same fees.

Here's another idea....go off and create your own device. Then create your own software for that device. No fees.

 

[sw1tcher]

The sense of entitlement extends beyond millennials to the EU and UK. Apple built the iPhone and supporting platforms to support the iPhone. For a developer, they created (with no assistance from outside organizations) a market where folks could make a living. You can create physical things like cases....you can create software. If Apple had not created any of this....there would be no iPhone app to create. What is so hard about paying a fee to participate in a market that you had absolutely nothing to do with creating? I don't understand why folks feel they are entitled to sell their iPhone products with no fees to Apple. It's not anti-competitive - everyone pays the same fees.

Here's another idea....go off and create your own device. Then create your own software for that device. No fees.

You know, before smartphones arrived, people who wanted to create a program to run on a computer did so and offered it however they wanted (over the internet) without having to get permission from the device maker or give the device maker a cut.

I say we go back to that model. And for developers who want to stick with Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store, Microsoft's store, they're all free to do so.