Apple scores an unexplained win as Justice Elena Kagan pauses a decision from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals which would have forced the company to open its App Store to alternative payment options from developers.
Two years ago, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers offered a split decision in the Apple v. Epic Games court case that said Apple doesn’t hold a monopoly with its App store design but that it will need to open itself up to supporting developer who want to implement alternative payment options to circumvent the 30% commission Apple takes on transactions.
Fortunately, for Apple, Supreme Court Justice Kagan inexplicably stepped in as the emergency handler of San Francisco-based 9th Court rulings and halted the implementation of the Gonzalez Rogers decision according to a report from Bloomberg.
Kagan’s pause allows Apple to keep its App Store intact and without change while it files a Supreme Court Appeal as a temporary measure. However, if the justices decide not to take the case, Gonzalez Rogers’ decision will kick in and Apple will be forced to make the changes assigned.
Obviously Epic was unsettled by Kagan’s decision to further delay App Store changes and believes the court chose the wrong legal standard to pause support of alternative payment options for developers, meanwhile Apple double down on its position in the wake of another halt to addressing its App Store commission believing Epic “isn’t being affected by the dispute policy.”
