Australia’s Federal Court has given Epic Games another win in its global fight against the way Apple and Google run their app stores.
The Court yesterday delivered its oral decision in a long-running case that, like similar cases elsewhere, considered whether the tech giants abuse market power by preventing developers from pursuing distribution channels that cost less than using their app stores or alternative payment systems.
The Australian case also represented the first major test of a revised definition of abuse of market power under local law.
As explained by law firm Gilbert + Tobin, the court found that both Apple and Google abused market power. Justice Beach found Apple’s App Store and requirement to use only its payment systems for apps sold there “had the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition” and therefore breached Australian competition law.
The Court found Google also misused power it wields in the market for app stores and payment services on Android.
Epic Games hailed the result as a win for developers and consumers. The games developer interpreted the judgement as meaning Apple will be forced to allow it to sell its wares in the App Store, something Cupertino has declined to do after Epic started using external payment systems.
However Epic also noted that the written decision runs to over 2,000 pages, and its expectation it may therefore contain other matters it needs to consider. At the time of writing the Court had not published the judgment and it may be some time before it emerges, because Gilbert + Tobin says the full terms outlined in the decision “are currently embargoed pending resolution of confidentiality claims.”
The matter is therefore far from over, for several reasons. One is that Apple and Google can appeal and appear likely to do so as both already expressed their concerns with some aspects of the judgement. Another is that a class action seeking compensation for overcharging flowing from Apple and Google’s abuse of market power has scarcely begun.
Gilbert + Tobin does, however, note that Australia joins South Korea, India, and Japan in having found or decided that app store operators need to allow more competition, and that the UK is investigating the same issues. Epic, Apple, and Google have also fought over the same issues in the US, where the games developer scored important wins. ®
Source: Epic Games has another win over Apple and Google, in Oz • The Register
Robin Edgar
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