Apple has had a win over a games developer which had accused it of breaching Australian consumer law.
Epic Games took the $2.87 trillion technology giant to the Federal Court after “Fortnite” was removed from the app store.
The company said it was being punished for offering users a direct payment option with a 20 per cent discount.
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At the heart of its complaint is that Apple forces developers to use its platform and takes a 30 per cent commission from sales.
But Apple argued in the Federal Court its contract dictated any disputes would be heard in Northern California.
Justice Nye Perram said the “most serious issues of public policy” were at play and he was “distinctly troubled”.
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“Despite those matters, however, I do not consider that the state of the law concerning choice of forum clauses permits me to refuse Apple’s application.”
He stayed the case for three months to allow Epic to file a case related to the alleged breach of Australian law in the Californian court or amend the current proceedings which are due to start in May.
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If Epic fails to do that the case will be permanently shelved.
If the Californian court refuses to deal with it then proceedings will resume in the Federal Court.
“We are seeking to finally end Apple’s monopolistic app distribution policies, which stifle competition and threaten the ability of developers to innovate and create new kinds of games, apps and businesses” the company wrote on its website.