Apple takes Epic fight over app store fees to the Supreme Court
Apple takes Epic fight over app store fees to the Supreme Court
苹果将与 Epic 关于应用商店费用的诉讼提交至最高法院
Apple is hoping the Supreme Court will reverse a contempt finding that threatens to block the tech giant from charging high commission fees when developers divert iPhone users to non-Apple payment methods for app purchases. 苹果公司希望最高法院能推翻一项藐视法庭的裁定。该裁定威胁到苹果公司，若其在开发者引导 iPhone 用户使用非苹果支付方式进行应用内购买时收取高额佣金，可能会受到限制。
The contempt finding came in a case where Epic Games accused Apple of violating a judicial order requiring changes to its App Store, which charged a 30 percent commission for using Apple payment methods and did not allow developer links to alternative payment methods. That order required Apple to allow developers to include links to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem, but Apple did so only after requiring a 27 percent commission for allowing the link-outs. 这项藐视法庭的裁定源于 Epic Games 对苹果公司的一项指控，称其违反了法院要求其修改应用商店的命令。此前，苹果对使用其支付方式的应用收取 30% 的佣金，且不允许开发者提供其他支付方式的链接。法院命令要求苹果允许开发者添加跳转至苹果生态系统之外的支付链接，但苹果在执行时，却要求对这些跳转支付收取 27% 的佣金。
In December, Apple lost an appeal after defending its commission as reasonable. At that time, the 9th Circuit concluded that Apple violated the spirit of the order by charging fees so high that they “had a prohibitive effect” on developers who saw little benefit in updating apps to save only a small amount on fees. 去年 12 月，苹果在为其佣金合理性辩护失败后上诉被驳回。当时，第九巡回法院裁定，苹果收取的费用过高，对开发者产生了“禁止性影响”，使得开发者认为更新应用以节省少量费用几乎没有意义，从而违反了法院命令的精神。
With seemingly nowhere left to turn, Apple petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in a last-ditch attempt to keep fees at an acceptable rate. In the petition, Apple argued that the 9th Circuit’s “‘spirit’-based approach sharply conflicts with the contempt standard in other circuits,” which only find contempt when companies defy explicit language in a judicial order. 在似乎已无路可走的情况下，苹果向最高法院提出上诉，试图做最后的努力以维持其费率。在请愿书中，苹果辩称，第九巡回法院基于“精神”的裁定方式与“其他巡回法院的藐视法庭标准严重冲突”，其他法院通常仅在公司违背司法命令中的明确条款时才认定其藐视法庭。
“Apple clearly could not be held in civil contempt in other circuits for charging a commission that is nowhere mentioned in the underlying order,” Apple argued. 苹果辩称：“在其他巡回法院，苹果显然不可能因为收取了原始命令中未提及的佣金而被认定为民事藐视法庭。”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court confirmed that justices would weigh Apple’s question “whether a court may hold a party in civil contempt based on a violation of an injunction’s ‘spirit’ where the injunction is silent as to the conduct upon which contempt is based, as the Ninth Circuit holds; or, instead, whether a court must ground a finding of civil contempt on the violation of an order that clearly and unambiguously proscribes the precise conduct at issue, as other circuits hold.” 周二，最高法院确认大法官们将审议苹果提出的问题，即：“法院是否可以像第九巡回法院所主张的那样，在禁令对相关行为未作明确规定的情况下，仅基于违反禁令的‘精神’而认定一方当事人民事藐视法庭；还是说，法院必须像其他巡回法院所主张的那样，基于违反了明确且毫无歧义地禁止特定行为的命令，才能做出民事藐视法庭的裁定。”
Global stakes for Apple
苹果面临的全球性风险
For Apple, the stakes are “enormous.” The iPhone maker told the Supreme Court that millions of app purchases could be impacted by the outcome of the case. Also, regulators around the world are waiting to see what commission rate US courts find acceptable, Apple argued. If the “taint” of the contempt finding influences litigation over setting that rate, Apple is concerned that it will never be able to revert the rate in regions outside the US. 对苹果而言，风险是“巨大的”。这家 iPhone 制造商告诉最高法院，该案的结果可能会影响数百万笔应用购买。此外，苹果辩称，全球监管机构都在等待美国法院认定什么样的佣金率是可接受的。如果藐视法庭裁定的“污点”影响了关于设定该费率的诉讼，苹果担心它将永远无法在美国以外的地区恢复其费率。
“The result is that, even if Apple could appeal whatever commission rate the district court sets on remand, that rate may be practically difficult—if not impossible—to change in the other jurisdictions that are closely monitoring these proceedings,” Apple argued. 苹果辩称：“结果就是，即使苹果能对地方法院发回重审后设定的任何佣金率提出上诉，在其他密切关注这些诉讼程序的司法管辖区，该费率也可能难以（甚至不可能）更改。”
As the SCOTUS review was announced, a United Kingdom competition watchdog confirmed that it’s preparing to challenge how Apple and Google set up app stores to block link-outs to alternative payment methods, The Guardian reported. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has argued that “consumers and app owners are being let down by Apple and Google restrictions on spending money outside their app stores,” and eliminating or lowering fees to allow more link-outs would “benefit competition,” The Guardian reported. 据《卫报》报道，在最高法院宣布审查此案的同时，英国竞争监管机构确认，正准备挑战苹果和谷歌设置应用商店以阻止跳转至其他支付方式的做法。英国竞争与市场管理局认为，“苹果和谷歌对在应用商店外消费的限制让消费者和应用所有者感到失望”，取消或降低费用以允许更多跳转支付将“有利于竞争”。
In Apple’s Supreme Court petition, the company claimed that the contempt finding was “erroneous” and that it’s worried that allowing it to stand would negatively influence ongoing litigation in the district court over how high Apple can go when charging a commission for link-outs. 在苹果提交给最高法院的请愿书中，该公司声称藐视法庭的裁定是“错误的”，并担心如果维持该裁定，将对地方法院正在进行的关于苹果在跳转支付中收取佣金上限的诉讼产生负面影响。
Epic prepares for SCOTUS fight
Epic 准备迎接最高法院的博弈
Apple insisted in its filing that allowing the district court to establish the commission rate would be improper, urging that “if the contempt finding were reversed” by the Supreme Court, then perhaps “no modification” of Apple’s fees “would be needed if Apple proposed an acceptable commission on its own.” 苹果在文件中坚称，允许地方法院设定佣金率是不恰当的，并敦促称“如果最高法院推翻了藐视法庭的裁定”，那么“如果苹果自行提出一个可接受的佣金率，或许就不需要对苹果的费用进行任何修改”。
Epic is preparing to fight that outcome. On X, Epic confirmed: “we’re heading to the Supreme Court where we’ll continue to fight against junk fees Apple charges on third-party payments. Lower courts have rightly found Apple’s fees to be illegal and anticompetitive and we’ll continue to defend free markets.” Epic 正准备对抗这一结果。Epic 在 X 上确认：“我们将前往最高法院，继续反对苹果在第三方支付上收取的垃圾费用。下级法院已正确地认定苹果的费用是非法且反竞争的，我们将继续捍卫自由市场。”
According to Reuters, the Supreme Court will likely hear the case during its next term, which begins this October. 据路透社报道，最高法院可能会在今年 10 月开始的下一个任期内审理此案。
Apple’s math will likely be challenged
苹果的算盘可能会受到挑战
Apple’s filing said that Epic is hoping that the court fight will end with Apple charging a de minimis rate to developers who want to have more control over how transactions are completed in their apps. In litigation that has been paused during the Supreme Court review, Epic expects to force Apple to show receipts explaining why commission rates are so high. 苹果的文件称，Epic 希望这场法庭之争最终能让苹果向那些希望在应用内交易方式上拥有更多控制权的开发者收取极低的费率。在最高法院审查期间暂停的诉讼中，Epic 期望迫使苹果出示账单，解释为何佣金率如此之高。
So far, Apple has claimed that commission fees “ensure that Apple can continue to receive compensation for use of its IP-protected tools, technologies, and services—the very things that attract developers and enable app creation.” 到目前为止，苹果声称佣金“确保了苹果能继续因其受知识产权保护的工具、技术和服务的使用而获得补偿——正是这些东西吸引了开发者并促成了应用的创建。”
For example, with Epic, Apple claims that purchases like even a single “skin” that Fortnite players buy to make their characters look unique require a fee. Those commissions help Apple develop and update “the iPhone screen that displays it, the iPhone touch controls that direct the virtual character, the Apple silicon chip that processes all iOS software, the app development tools Epic used to build Fortnite for iOS, and the App Store platform that downloads, updates, and maintains the app,” their filing said. 例如，以 Epic 为例，苹果声称即使是《堡垒之夜》玩家为了让角色看起来独特而购买的单个“皮肤”，也需要支付佣金。苹果的文件称，这些佣金帮助苹果开发和更新了“显示它的 iPhone 屏幕、引导虚拟角色的 iPhone 触摸控制、处理所有 iOS 软件的 Apple 芯片、Epic 用于构建 iOS 版《堡垒之夜》的应用开发工具，以及下载、更新和维护该应用的应用商店平台”。
If the Supreme Court sides with Apple and reverses the contempt finding, Apple is hoping to wriggle out of sharing “confidential business data regarding the company’s decision-making concerning the App Store, its implementation of linked-out purchases for developers, and its internal discussions regarding compliance with the injunction.” 如果最高法院支持苹果并推翻藐视法庭的裁定，苹果希望借此摆脱分享“有关公司应用商店决策、为开发者实施跳转支付以及关于遵守禁令的内部讨论等机密商业数据”的义务。