Judge opens door for millions to sue Apple: App Store walls crumble as class-action lawsuit gets green light

Judge opens door for millions to sue Apple: App Store walls crumble as class-action lawsuit gets green light،

A while ago, Apple settled another class action lawsuit, but it seems the tech giant's legal team can't catch a break as a new one is already looming.

According to Reuters, a federal judge ruled that tens of millions of Apple customers can file a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses the company of monopolizing the iPhone app market by banning purchases outside of its App Store, which would drive up prices.

In March 2022, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers initially refused to certify a class action. However, she reversed her decision after the class was narrowed to include only Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on an app or in-app content.

While concerned that the restricted category could encompass more than 10 million unharmed accounts, or 7.9% of the total, Rogers noted that this number could be reduced. She stressed that there was no fixed “cut” for refusing certification.

The judge also rejected Apple's attempt to exclude the testimony of two expert witnesses, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel McFadden, whom Apple considered unreliable. These experts should shed light on how Apple may have caused harm to consumers.

Mark Rifkin, the lawyer representing the consumers, said: “extremely happy” with the judge's ruling and looks forward to the next phase of the 12-year-old antitrust case. Rifkin believed the class faces “billions of dollars in damage“.

Judge Rogers was also in charge of the Epic Games vs. Apple showdown. In September 2021, she asked Apple to ease restrictions on where developers can request payment. However, she didn't go all the way in forcing Apple to allow downloads to iPhones outside of the App Store.

Regardless of how the case develops, Apple's rules, attacked in this lawsuit, are already undergoing changes on a global scale. For example, the EU's Digital Markets Act is pushing Apple to make adjustments, making it mandatory to allow third-party app stores and third-party payment processing within the European Union.