35 US States Back Fortnite Maker Epic Games in Fight With Apple (AAPL)

A bipartisan group of attorneys general, representing 35 U.S. states, filed arguments against the judge's ruling that Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) dominance of the market for mobile apps doesn’t violate U.S. antitrust law, asking for the ruling to be reversed.

The initial appeal was made by Epic Games, mostly known for their popular game Fortnite. Epic Games also received a lot of support from different sides who share their opinion, including 38 law, economics, and business professors, a cyber-civil liberties organization, and Microsoft Corp.

The States’ main argument is that the ruling is based on faulty analysis and isn’t consistent with antitrust law, failing to properly weigh the effects of Apple’s conduct.

“As Epic points out, Apple amassed billions in supracompetitive profits from one billion iPhone users,” the attorneys general said. “Without balancing, this type of immense harm to consumers can go unanswered with just the slightest showing of procompetitive benefit.”

On the other side, Apple still hopes that the initial ruling made by the U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, will stand.

Apple’s spokesman told Bloomberg: “We’re optimistic that the ruling will be affirmed on appeal, and that Epic’s challenge will fail. We remain committed to ensuring the App Store is a safe and trusted marketplace for consumers and a great opportunity for developers.”

The U.S. Justice Department declined to take a side with either Epic or Apple but shared an opinion that the ruling was flawed. In its filing, they said that two provisions of the Sherman Act, a central pillar of federal antitrust law, were misapplied by the judge “in ways that would leave many anticompetitive agreements and practices outside their protections.”

By Senad Karaahmetovic | [email protected]

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