The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a brief with the Supreme Court backing Apple in the Apple-Epic Games case, pushing this long fight over App Store rules back into view. The government sides with one of Apple’s main arguments: a court order has to be enforced as written, not stretched beyond what it actually says.
the 27% commission is back at the center of the case
At the heart of the dispute is the 27% commission on purchases made outside the App Store, which Apple introduced after the court’s first ruling. That ruling didn’t set a commission rate. It only said the commission had to be “fair.” Epic Games called the 27% cut “unfair,” and the court then found that Apple hadn’t complied with the judgment.
That’s where the Department of Justice steps in. Apple has long argued that the order allowed those external links and still left room for Apple to charge for the value of its platform. That idea is still built into Apple’s newer commission proposal. In its brief, the Department of Justice says that reading of the order is perfectly reasonable.
The whole dispute turns on the “fair ground of doubt” standard. Civil contempt requires complete clarity about the conduct in question, so, in the Department of Justice’s view, Apple didn’t violate the judge’s directives and the Supreme Court should throw out the contempt finding.
Major boost for Apple
In Europe, Apple has already adjusted to App Store rules and still charges a commission on purchases made outside the App Store. Epic Games’ complaints don’t draw the same level of attention there anymore. In the United States, though, they still do.
Here, support from the Department of Justice matters a lot. Courts take that seriously, and it could shape how the Supreme Court comes down on the case.
Several business groups and legal experts are also backing Apple’s arguments, but the fight still comes down to the exact wording of the order. Right now, the stronger reading seems to be that a “fair” commission can still mean 27%. We’ll see where the courts land.
