[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The antitrust lawsuit against Apple and Google over their app stores is expanding its front from the United States to Europe. The core of the dispute is whether the 30% commission that Apple and Google demand from app developers constitutes unfair conduct due to abuse of market dominance.
According to major foreign media, on the 17th (local time), US game developer Epic Games filed a lawsuit with the European Union (EU) regulatory authority, the European Commission (EC), alleging that Apple violated competition law. Epic Games claimed in the complaint that "Apple is abusing its dominant market position to deliberately exclude competitors, thereby violating EU regulations."
Epic Games, the developer of the popular shooting game 'Fortnite,' introduced its own payment system to avoid the 30% app store commission charged by Google and Apple, but was expelled from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store last year.
Epic Games had its developer account terminated on the Apple App Store for violating Apple's policies, and subsequently filed a lawsuit against Apple in the US Federal District Court in California.
Epic Games argued that platform companies like Apple and Google monopolize 30% of mobile content revenue under the name of distribution fees, while developers do not receive adequate compensation.
There have been criticisms that Apple and Google, merely intermediaries between developers and consumers, demand excessive revenue sharing, and that this vulnerable distribution structure is worsening the business conditions of developers.
Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "The future of mobile platforms is at stake in this legal dispute," adding, "We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to control the digital ecosystem."
Previously, in North Dakota, a bill was proposed to prevent mobile app developers from paying payment fees to Apple or Google, but it was rejected in the Senate vote. The bill prohibits app developers from distributing apps exclusively through their own platforms or forcing payment methods to be only in-app purchases.
The New York Times (NYT) reported that Epic Games was the entity that pushed for the North Dakota bill and lobbied for its passage. According to the newspaper, Davidson Clemens, a North Dakota state senator who introduced the bill, received the draft from a lobbyist hired by Epic Games.
The lobbyist also stated to the newspaper that they work for the 'Coalition for App Fairness' (CAF), which was formed by Epic Games.
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