


The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a court order to take effect that could loosen Apple’s grip on its lucrative iPhone app store, potentially siphoning billions of dollars away from one of the world’s most profitable companies.
The justices rejected Apple’s appeal of lower-court rulings that found some of Apple’s app store rules for apps purchased on more than 1 billion iPhones constitute unfair competition under California law.
The appeal stemmed from an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2020 by Epic Games, maker of the popular Fortnite video game. Epic lost its broader claim that Cupertino, California-based Apple was violating federal antitrust law, and the justices also rejected Epic’s appeal Tuesday.
But in turning away Apple’s effort to maintain exclusive control over in-app payments, the court lifted a hold on an order to allow app developers throughout the U.S. to insert links to other payment options besides its own within iPhone apps. That change would make it easier for developers to avoid paying Apple’s commissions ranging from 15% to 30%.
Rapper and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs has withdrawn his lawsuit against Diageo as part of a settlement with the London-based spirits giant.
Combs and Diageo “have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them,” the two parties said in a statement released Tuesday. Diageo is now the sole owner of Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila, two brands Combs had promoted in the past, and has no business relationship with Combs going forward.
No further details of the settlement were released.
Combs sued Diageo last May, saying the company didn’t make promised investments in Ciroc and DeLeon and treated them as inferior “urban” products.