Judge pressures Apple to approve Fortnite or return to court

Summary

A federal judge is asking Apple to approve Fortnite’s submission on the U.S. App Store or return to court to explain the legal basis as to why it has not done so. In a new filing, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirms the court has received Epic Games’ latest motion, where it demands that Apple approve Fortnite for distribution on the App Store. The clearly annoyed judge asks Apple to show the court the “legal authority upon which Apple contends that it can ignore this Court’s order.” Gonzalez Rogers also suggests that Apple will need to return to court to explain if the situation is not addressed. “Apple is fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” Gonzalez Rogers reminds the tech giant, before adding that Apple name the company official who’s responsible for ensuring compliance with the court’s decision. Reading between the lines, the demand for the name of the Apple official in the new filing suggests that Gonzalez Rogers is not above considering contempt charges for failing to comply with the court’s injunction. This follows her earlier ruling, where the judge skewered Apple for attempting to route around the court’s orders and accused the tech company of lying under oath. After winning the right to include links to external payment mechanisms in its app, Epic Games resubmitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store. However, Apple told the game maker that it decided not to take action on Epic Games’ submission until after the Ninth Circuit rules on Apple’s pending request for a partial stay of the new injunction. (In other words, Apple said it didn’t have to approve the app until the legal proceedings around its appeal fully played out.) Epic Games on Friday filed a motion to compel the court to enforce the injunction, given Apple’s decision. The latest legal threat follows a years-long court battle over Apple’s App Store policies, which had long denied app developers the right to link to external payment options withou...