SAN FRANCISCO: Fortnite maker Epic Games and Apple clashed in court on Monday at the opening of a blockbuster trial on the iPhone maker’s App Store with potentially big implications for the world of mobile tech, trading barbs over alleged monopolistic actions and what is best for consumers.

Epic attorney Katherine Forrest began the case, accusing Apple of turning its online marketplace into a monopoly “walled garden” that lures in developers and users, then squeezes money out of them.

Apple essentially planted a “flower in the walled garden (that) was turned into a Venus fly trap,” the lawyer said in opening statements in California federal court, claiming the technology titan gets profits as much as 78 percent from apps.

“The evidence will show unambiguously that Apple is a monopoly,” she claimed. Apple lawyer Karen Dunn fired back, telling the judge that Epic’s suit is part of a “self-proclaimed war against mobile platform fees” that defies the law and the facts.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2021