Apple has filed a motion to halt the court ruling that cracked open the US App Store last week.
As developers rush to implement alternative payment flows that effectively dodge Apple’s 30% commission on all IAPs, Apple’s latest motion asks the courts for more time to mount a defence.
The motion is based on Apple’s assertion that the decision is punitive, violates Apple’s freedom of speech and will do “irreparable harm” to its business.
The motion also claims it is unlawful to “prohibit Apple from charging a commission on linked transactions”, and to impose a 0% commission on transactions. “A federal court cannot force Apple to permanently give away free access to its products and services, including intellectual property,” the motion says.
The motion goes on to claim that it is also unlawful for the court to bar Apple from controlling “link placement and language”. Part of Apple’s argument also leans on free speech laws, claiming that the ruling “violates the First Amendment by requiring Apple to “accommodate messages it would prefer to exclude.””
Further, the motion states that Apple can prove it complied with the previous injunction as well as show that the accusations of contempt “are unwarranted”. Apple also says the court committed errors in its ruling including “invasion of the attorney-client privilege”.
It concludes: “Without a stay, these extraordinary intrusions into Apple’s business will cause grave irreparable harm. Depriving Apple of control over core features of the App Store is, standing alone, sufficient to warrant a stay.”
“The new rules profoundly undercut the integrated iOS ecosystem that this Court sustained as lawful and that is the foundation of user trust and confidence in the App Store.”
“The district court acknowledged that compliance will cost Apple “hundreds of millions to billions” of dollars annually, which Apple can never recoup,” Apple continues. “Consumers would suffer from the destabilizing effects of the new injunction, while Epic would not be harmed by a stay. This Court should enter an immediate stay of the prohibitions.”
Despite the motion, the US court was very clear last week that the new rules are effective now, with Apple ordered by law to comply immediately. Developers are free to operate under the new US App Store rules until they are told otherwise.
