London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Microsoft, Justice Dept., 35 states accuse Apple of hurting competition in Epic Games fight

Microsoft, Justice Dept., 35 states accuse Apple of hurting competition in Epic Games fight

The lawsuit accuses Apple of using its app store to stifle competition and maintain a monopoly over the app market

The Justice Department, 35 state attorneys general and Microsoft are accusing Apple of hurting competition in amicus briefs filed Friday.

The briefs come in response to Fortnite creator Epic Games' ongoing legal battle with Apple over the tech giant's app store policies that began in 2020.

"Apple’s conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app developers and millions of citizens within the [states'] boundaries," the state attorney generals' brief led by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes states. "Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize app-distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry."

This illustration picture shows a person logging into Epic Games' Fortnite on their smartphone in Los Angeles on August 14, 2020.


The complaint added that "Apple must account for its conduct under a complete rule of reason analysis."

Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple began when it announced plans to implement its own in-app payment system in Fortnite last year to avoid paying Apple a commission fee of up to 30%.

In response to the move, Apple removed Fortnite from its app store and restricted access to its iOS developer account. Epic fired back with an antitrust lawsuit, accusing Apple of using its app store to stifle competition and maintain a monopoly over the app market.

iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models are displayed as customers shop at Apple's flagship 5th Avenue store on September 20, 2019 in New York City.


The briefs filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit back Epic Games' recent appeal against a ruling in Oakland, California, district court. The ruling found Apple's commission fees were not anti-competitive, but that the tech giant did engage in some anti-competitive behavior under California's Unfair Competition law.

The 35 attorneys general, Justice Department and Microsoft are now urging a reconsideration of its ruling as it related to the Sherman Act.

"The district court committed several legal errors that could imperil effective antitrust enforcement, especially in the digital economy," the Justice Department said in its brief. "The court read Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act narrowly and wrongly, in ways that would leave many anticompetitive agreements and practices outside their protections."

Gamers play the video game 'fortnite' developed by Epic Games on a laptop from the Razer company during the 'Paris Games Week' on October 25, 2018 in Paris, France.


The Justice Department also described the district court’s opinion as "ambiguous."

Microsoft also filed a brief stating that if "Apple is allowed to step between any company with online services and users of iPhones, few areas of the vast mobile economy will be safe from Apple’s interference and eventual dominance," as The New York Post reported.

"Consumers and innovation will suffer — indeed, they already have," the company said, adding that the "district court’s reasoning failed to give sufficient weight to these immense competitive risks and, if broadly affirmed, could insulate Apple from meritorious antitrust scrutiny and embolden further harmful conduct."

An Apple spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business that it is "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 spokesperson said.

Apple's stock price climbed more than 3.5% in after-hours trading following the release of its highest quarterly revenue increase in the company's history on Thursday at $123.9 billion. In early January, the tech behemoth became the first U.S. company to hit $3 trillion in market value. Microsoft was valued at around $2.5 trillion at the time.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×