Following last week’s ruling in the Epic Games case, Apple has been hit with yet another lawsuit. The new class-action lawsuit claims that app developers could have added external links for purchases and avoided paying unnecessary commissions to Apple if the company had complied with an injunction issued by a US court over the past 15 months or so.
The lawsuit was filed by law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of the developers of Pure Sweat Basketball, an app used by professional basketball players. The developers had previously included external links for payments, but Apple forced them to remove those.
“Had Apple complied with the injunction as issued, Apple’s own studies show that developers would have saved potentially billions in in-app purchase commissions. These are ill-gotten gains and Apple should not be permitted to retain them.” the lawsuit claims.
“Apple should be made to disgorge its wrongful profit, and Developers are entitled to be made whole” it added.
The lawsuit states that developers lost ‘hundreds of millions to billions’
Apple estimated the revenue impact to be “hundreds of millions to billions” due to the non-implementation of the injunction issued in 2021.
Apple’s legal troubles:
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled last week that Apple had willfully violated her injunction order in the Epic Games case by charging developers a new 27% fee when users pay outside the App Store, and referred the company to federal prosecutors for possible criminal contempt charges.
Shortly after the ruling, Apple changed its App Store policies to allow developers to add external payment links. The company has denied violating the injunction and has also filed an appeal in the case.
Apple had also approved an update to the Spotify app that allows users to access subscription prices and make external payments.
