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Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers late Tuesday tossed Apple Inc.’s motion to stay her court-ordered changes to the App Store, and the company must eventually let developers add links and buttons to external payment options on its digital platform.
“Apple’s motion is based on a selective reading of this Court’s findings and ignores all of the findings which supported the injunction,” her order read.
Gonzalez Rogers made her original ruling in the Apple-Epic Games Inc. antitrust lawsuit in September.
In a hearing Tuesday, Apple
AAPL,
said it needed more time to rewrite its anti-steering policies that bar app developers from linking to payment methods besides the iOS App Store.
“Apple believes no additional business changes should be required to take effect until all appeals in this case are resolved. We intend to ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay based on these circumstances,” an Apple spokesperson said in an email to MarketWatch.
Apple contends it will be irreparably harmed if it is forced to allow developers to steer their customers to cheaper payment systems starting in December, as the judge ordered.
Last month, Apple said in a court filing that it was “working hard to address these difficult issues in a changing world, enhancing information flow without compromising the consumer experience.” It noted a class-action settlement in which it agreed to let developers email customers, as well as a settlement with Japanese antitrust regulators to let certain apps bypass its commissions of up to 30%.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google
GOOGL,
GOOG,
last month said it was slashing the app-store fees in half for most developers. The action follows a similar but less comprehensive move by Apple as both companies contend with mounting pressure from developers, regulators and lawmakers to make their mobile stores more accessible and commission fees less punitive.
