Justice forces Apple to modify its payment system in the App Store

A US judge on Tuesday rejected Apple’s request to defer authorization for App Store products to be sold without using its payment system, saying it had 30 days to comply.

The case originated from a lawsuit from game developer Epic Games, creator of the popular Fortnite.

Apple wanted the amendment, which must take effect no later than Dec. 9, to be suspended while it appeals a ruling by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the antitrust case brought by Epic.

This company filed the lawsuit to break Apple’s control over the App Store, accusing the iPhone maker of operating a monopoly in the payment method of its digital goods and services store.

In Tuesday’s decision, Judge González Rogers ordered Apple to loosen control of its App Store payment options, although she clarified that Epic did not prove that there had been antitrust violations.

“The resource of Apple it is based on a selective reading of the court’s findings and ignores all the findings that support the order, ”the judge wrote in her decision.

“Apple believes that no change can take effect until all appeals in the case are resolved,” said a company spokesman.

“We want to ask the Ninth Circuit for a suspension based on these circumstances,” the spokesman added, referring to a federal appeals court.

For Epic and other companies, the ability to use other payment methods is not enough: they want players to be able to pay them directly without leaving the game.

But Apple alleges that this would lead to a loss of trust and integrity in the platform, which the judge considered as something “exaggerated.”