Apple subpoenas in the Epic Games case are over the top, says a judge in the case, noting that the iPhone maker was seemingly demanding information from anyone and everyone. But he did rule that the company should get some of the Steam data it wanted in order to help understand how the games market as a whole operates.
Unique Fortnite Skin designs on hard and soft cases and covers for iPhone 12, SE, 11, iPhone XS, iPhone X, iPhone 8, & more. Snap, tough, & flex cases created by independent artists. Play Bubble Epic Now! The best game for iPad! 15 million users play 'Bubble Epic' on Facebook. Continue the addictive experience to the mobile. Download Bubble Epic Now! You could play it everywhere with offline mode. Very simple, easy and straight-forward game play: - 200+ level to play - Get 3 stars in every level, you are the expert! The Action Building game where you team up with other players to build massive forts and battle against hordes of monsters, all while crafting and looting in giant worlds where no two games are ever the same. Epic Games ‘Attempting to Locate' Former iOS Software Chief to Testify Against Apple Posted by Sanuj Bhatia on Feb 23, 2021 in Epic Games vs Apple, News A new report in Epic vs Apple legal battle details that the company is trying to seek testimony from Apple's former iOS software chief, Scott Forstall. Epic Games had a valuation of $17.3 billion at the end of last year, and on the financial front, Sweeney says Epic has 'the financial independence' to conduct its suit against Apple.
Apple had demanded hugely sensitive Steam data to help its defense in the Epic antitrust lawsuit…
Background
Apple subpoenaed a ton of financial data from Steam owner Valve, including total sales of apps and in-app products, the price of each app on the platform, gross revenues for every version, and every price change between 2015 and the present day.
Valve objected on three grounds. First, that this was highly sensitive commercial data. Second, that it didn't have much of the data Apple wanted. Third, that it was not a party to the Apple/Epic dispute.
But because Epic had previously levelled the same antitrust claims against Valve, Apple wanted the information to help its own case.
Ruling on Apple subpoenas
Law360 reports that a judge has now ruled that the Cupertino company is entitled to this data, but he did narrow the terms of the search – and pass comment on the breadth and depth of Apple subpoenas in this case.
A California magistrate judge ordered third-party game distributor Valve Corp. on Wednesday to hand over certain sales and pricing data to Apple in Epic Games' antitrust suit over the tech giant's App Store fees […]
During a hearing held via Zoom, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson ordered Valve to produce aggregate historical sales, pricing and other data on 436 games sold on the virtual game store Steam, but the judge limited the data production to sales that go back to 2017, instead of to 2015 as Apple initially requested.
'It's my understanding, for lack of a better word, Apple has salted the earth with subpoenas, so don't worry, it's not just you,' Judge Hixson told Valve's counsel.
Valve's counsel, Gavin W. Skok and Jaemin Chang, said the demands were unreasonable.
Skok argued that the request is overly burdensome, particularly since Valve is a small, privately held company with roughly 350 employees. He said the company doesn't regularly produce such reports in the ordinary course of business, and added that the requested data is either already publicly available or includes confidential third-party information that belongs to game developers and not Valve. If Apple wants the data, it should request it directly from the third parties, he said.
Skok also noted that Valve would have to dedicate multiple employees working full time to respond to the requests and could not guarantee that their work would be done in time. There are multiple versions of the games, each with its own packages and items that users can purchase, so pulling the data for just one of the 436 games requested would require many hours of work, he said.
But the judge agreed that the data is needed to help understand the broader games market, and the role played by platforms like Steam and Apple's App Store.
Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Apple might position itself as the champion of privacy when it comes to personal data, but court records showed that the company demanded hugely sensitive data from game distribution service Steam to help in the battle with Epic Games.
The reason? Epic previously criticized Steam's cut from game developers, accusing platform owner Valve of 'sucking out a huge fraction of the profits from games.' Apple wanted to understand more about Valve's business model with Steam in order to help it make its own case for the App Store. The data that Apple demanded from Valve – which is not even a party to the case – was pretty insane…
PC Gamer reports that Valve refused Apple's demand, and now a court needs to rule on the matter. Here is the data Apple wanted, which its lawyers somehow described as a 'very narrow' request: Minecraft pe for windows 8.
Valve's: (a) total yearly sales of apps and in-app products; (b) annual advertising revenues from Steam; (c) annual sales of external products attributable to Steam; (d) annual revenues from Steam; and (e) annual earnings (whether gross or net) from Steam.
And, in an additional request:
'(a) the name of each App on Steam; (b) the date range when the App was available on Steam; and (c) the price of the App and any in-app product available on Steam.' Where is minecraft data stored.
That is, Apple wants Valve to provide the names, prices, configurations and dates of every product on Steam, as well as detailed accounts of exactly how much money Steam makes and how it is all divvied-up […]
Apple apparently demanded data on 30,000+ games initially, before narrowing its focus to around 600. Request 32 gets incredibly granular, Valve explains: Apple is demanding information about every version of a given product, all digital content and items, sale dates and every price change from 2015 to the present day, the gross revenues for each version, broken down individually, and all of Valve's revenues from it.
Valve says not only that the data is incredibly valuable commercial information, but that it doesn't even record the level of detail Apple wants – and, in any case, is not remotely involved in the dispute between Apple and Epic.
Valve says it does not 'in the ordinary course of business keep the information Apple seeks for a simple reason: Valve doesn't need it.'
Valve's argument goes on to explain to the court that it is not a competitor in the mobile space (this is, after all, a dispute that began with Fortnite on iOS), and makes the point that 'Valve is not Epic, and Fortnite is not available on Steam.' It further says that Apple is using Valve as a shortcut to a huge amount of third party data that rightfully belongs to those third parties.
The conclusion of Valve's argument calls for the court to throw Apple's subpoena out. 'Somehow, in a dispute over mobile apps, a maker of PC games that does not compete in the mobile market or sell ‘apps' is being portrayed as a key figure. It's not. The extensive and highly confidential information Apple demands about a subset of the PC games available on Steam does not show the size or parameters of the relevant market and would be massively burdensome to pull together. Apple's demands for further production should be rejected.'
It seems pretty hard to imagine that Apple could succeed here, but the legal world and common sense do not always align.
The Not Jony Ive parody account has a suggested compromise.
Epic Games Iphone 6 Protective Case
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
