By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) -Apple Inc on Thursday said it had reached a proposed settlement on a class-action lawsuit brought by small developers on its App Store and would make changes, including loosening curbs on developers telling iPhone users about alternative payment methods.
A group of software developers brought the lawsuit in 2019 https://www.reuters.com/article/cbusiness-us-apple-antitrust-idCAKCN1T5249-OCABS, alleging that Apple broke antitrust laws with practices such as charging commissions of up to 30%. The Cupertino, California-based company said it has reached a proposed settlement that covers developers who made $1 million a year or less under which the developers release all claims that Apple’s commissions were too high.
The agreement comes as Apple awaits a decision in a much larger antitrust case filed by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games. The proposed settlement on Thursday will need approval from the same federal jurist – Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California – who is expected to hand down a decision in the Epic case.
In exchange, Apple said it will make a number of changes to the App Store, including preserving a change made last year that lowers commissions for smaller developers to 15%. Apple said it will keep those rates in place for three years.
But perhaps the biggest concession made by Apple is for ending its practice of barring developers from informing their customers about alternative ways to pay that do not involve paying commissions to Apple.
Apple said the changes will apply to all developers globally, not just the class of smaller developers in the United States covered directly by the settlement.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Uttaresh.V and Shri Navaratnam)
