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Epic fails to bust open the App Store: 'Success is not illegal'

15 September 2021
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Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has handed Fortnite maker Epic a crushing defeat in its antitrust suit against Apple’s App Store policies. 

Apple is using settlements to preserve its model, though both it and Google are exposed to new legislation. 

Google still faces trial by Epic; its Android licensing agreements are its Achilles' heel. 

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Access report

  • Epic v Apple: A must-watch moment for tech antitrust

    27 July 2021

    Epic Games, maker of mega-hit Fortnite, sued Apple over alleged antitrust violations around App Store rules and Apple’s 30% tax on in-app transactions. A decision could come soon, though it will be contested on appeal.

    The implications of the case could be far-reaching, as Apple and other tech companies like Google design their platforms to extract high-margin revenue from the transactions they facilitate, including news subscriptions: a five-year basic in-app subscription to The Times costs £885, of which Apple takes £158. 

    It comes in the context of a flurry of debate and decisions around tech antitrust and consumer protection: new laws may ultimately be needed, but regulators in the US and UK are proving they can be creative with their existing tools. 

    Access report

  • Google search in the dock: Department of Justice targets mobile business practices

    24 November 2020

    The US Department of Justice antitrust case against Google alleges an illegal monopoly in search and search advertising in their home and largest market.

    The lawsuit targets Google's control of the Android mobile operating system and exclusive revenue share agreement with Apple, which the EU prohibited in 2018, a decision that Google has appealed.

    Alongside antitrust enforcement, legislative initiatives in the EU and UK will create an ex ante antitrust framework for relations between “gatekeeper” platforms and their users and customers, which the US Congress has yet to emulate.

    Access report