UK denies Apple's bid to dismiss App Store lawsuit

AppleInsider

A class action lawsuit against Apple over the App Store's 30% fee will go ahead, after a UK tribunal rejects the company's argument for dismissal.

Store front at Apple Battersea, where Apple's UK headquarters is

In July 2023, a suit was brought against Apple in the UK on behalf of 1,566 developers based in the country, saying Apple's 30% fee was excessive, and an abuse of its monopoly position. Then in January 2024, Apple filed a motion to have the tribunal dismiss the case entirely.

According to Reuters, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal has now denied the motion. Apple had argued that the case was unsustainable because 85% of developers pay it nothing to be on the App Store.

Apple further argued that developers cannot have a claim in the UK unless it was over purchases made within the country. Apple lawyer Daniel Piccinin said this would only apply to a small minority of the case's claimants.

However, Judge Andrew Lenon ruled that the class action, brought by law professor Sean Ennis, could go ahead. Judge Lenon said in a written ruling that the case had a realistic chance of establishing that "Apple's overcharging of commission to app developers based in the UK in relation to commerce transacted on non-UK storefronts did amount to conduct implemented in the UK."

In other words, the class action claimants can attempt to argue in court that Apple should not have charged 30% for any app purchases, in or out of the UK.

It's not known yet when the case will continue.



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paisleydisco

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

avon b7

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Yes. Developers knew the price of admission. We all do. The question is if that constitutes abuse of dominant position. That we can't know until the process is over. 

9secondkox2

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Exactly. 

But once a predatory government draws blood, the others are sure to be encouraged by it. 

Everybody looking at Apple like they’re a government bank account. 

It’s sick. 

tmay

avon b7 said:

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Yes. Developers knew the price of admission. We all do. The question is if that constitutes abuse of dominant position. That we can't know until the process is over. 

That "dominate position" was the fertile ground that grew those developers businesses. Now those same developers want to avoid any payments at all to Apple. 

That doesn't really look like a viable synergy, but then again, this is the EU we are talking about, an aging and brittle political and economic structure. I'll probably live long enough to see the EU disintegrate, and then, back to continuous warfare.

Lovely.

ctt_zh

tmay said:

avon b7 said:

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Yes. Developers knew the price of admission. We all do. The question is if that constitutes abuse of dominant position. That we can't know until the process is over. 

That "dominate position" was the fertile ground that grew those developers businesses. Now those same developers want to avoid any payments at all to Apple. 

That doesn't really look like a viable synergy, but then again, this is the EU we are talking about, an aging and brittle political and economic structure. I'll probably live long enough to see the EU disintegrate, and then, back to continuous warfare.

Lovely.

The UK isn't in the EU...

The EU won't disintegrate any time soon. And there certainly won't be continuous warfare, despite the deep passion for it in some quarters outside of the EU...  

tmay

ctt_zh said:

tmay said:

avon b7 said:

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Yes. Developers knew the price of admission. We all do. The question is if that constitutes abuse of dominant position. That we can't know until the process is over. 

That "dominate position" was the fertile ground that grew those developers businesses. Now those same developers want to avoid any payments at all to Apple. 

That doesn't really look like a viable synergy, but then again, this is the EU we are talking about, an aging and brittle political and economic structure. I'll probably live long enough to see the EU disintegrate, and then, back to continuous warfare.

Lovely.

The UK isn't in the EU...

The EU won't disintegrate any time soon. And there certainly won't be continuous warfare, despite the deep passion for it in some quarters outside of the EU...  

Yes the UK is definitely out of the EU today, and while Brexit was indeed a massive mistake, many people in the UK now want to rejoin the EU in some form other another.

Kierkegaarden

What a waste of time.  It is easy to see that 30% has been the established rate used by the industry, not to mention the fact that this is much lower than what developers used to pay before the App Store.  And as Apple pointed out, most app developers don’t pay anything, and a large amount pay just 15%.  

If you want your app to exist on the iOS platform that Apple created, it is only fair that you pay for that privilege and use of the tools and resources that Apple provides.  The UK government taxes its citizens for the right to live in their country and enjoy the tools and resources it provides.  The top income rate in the UK is 45% — how is this not “excessive”?

wonkothesane

Wouldn’t „abuse“ imply that all those app developers had already been app developers before Apple created an App Store (which became dominant eventually), because the conditions had been known and transparent from day one (and have not worsened over time)? 
Oh, I see, they were software devs paying around 70% commission to get their boxes sold in brick and mortar stores. 

How come this is a case?

davidw

avon b7 said:

paisleydisco said:

Okay. Now go after supermarkets and retail stores that charge 30% and more for products to be placed in store. 

Developers knew the price of admission and now are crying. GTFO. 

Yes. Developers knew the price of admission. We all do. The question is if that constitutes abuse of dominant position. That we can't know until the process is over. 

Having a "dominate" position has nothing to do with it. It's because Apple have been labeled the BS position of being a "gatekeeper", under the DMA.  And many countries are using the DMA as a reference, even if the DMA do not apply their country. And this is what the EU set out to do. 

The "Microsoft Store have a "dominate"position on the Xbox. The Sony Store have a "dominate" position on the PlayStation. Steam gaming platform is a dominate position on the PC. Google Play Store have a "dominate" position on Android phones. They all charge about the same 30% commission, if a developer want to sell in their stores.

Plus how were developers harm? They are allow to set the price of their own apps. This isn't like if Apple were forcing developers to sell their apps at a certain price and then taking 30% of the sale price. The developers should be including cost of the commission in the price of their apps, don't you think? Surely they must factor in cost like, taxes, cost of development tools, rent, electricity, employees wages and their own internet cost, when pricing their apps when trying to make a  profit from its sale.

If any one can claim to be harm by the commission, it's maybe the consumers that pays for apps. But it can be argued that both developers and consumers have greatly benefited from online store sale of software. No matter the platform. For developers, it has greatly driven down the cost of distributing their software to the consumers. When was the last time a consumer can walk into a retail store and 90% of the software available ........ was free? 

And In the end, consumers pays for all the cost of producing a product or service , plus the profits made by the who ever sells the product or service. Including the sales tax the government charges.

longfang

Wait til these people find out about the markups on actual luxury goods.

Also on a parallel note, kinda, income tax could be argued as a similar commission for working in the country where the tax is being assessed. If 30% is egregious then so should similar personal income tax rates.