Overview
- The Ninth Circuit largely affirmed the April finding that Apple willfully violated the 2021 anti‑steering injunction in the Epic Games case.
- The panel reversed the blanket ban on commissions and told the district court to set a reasonable fee limited to necessary coordination costs and narrowly defined IP use, excluding security and privacy features.
- Judges agreed Apple’s 27% off‑store charge and related link rules had a prohibitive effect that discouraged developers from steering users to alternative payment methods.
- The court allowed Apple to prevent external buttons or links from being more prominent than in‑app purchase options, while leaving most other restrictions on Apple’s conduct intact.
- Apple cannot resume off‑store charging until a compliant fee is set on remand, and the court rejected Apple’s bids to vacate the injunction or reassign the case to a new judge.