Apple is battling a lawsuit filed last year by
Epic Games, alleging that the smartphone maker has abused its dominance in the
market for mobile apps.
Their battle pivoted to South Korea last week
when its parliament approved a bill that bans major app store operators,
including Apple, from forcing software developers to use their payment systems,
effectively stopping them from charging commission on in-app purchases.
The legislation is expected to go into effect
on around September 15.
Epic said in a post on Twitter it had asked
Apple to restore its Fortnite developer account, adding: "Epic intends to
re-release Fortnite on iOS in Korea offering both Epic payment and Apple
payment side-by-side in compliance with the new Korean law."
But Apple said Epic Games would have to agree
to comply with Apple's App Store review guidelines and it will not consider any
request for reinstatement of Epic Games' developer programme account in the
absence of such an agreement.
"We would welcome Epic's return to the
App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else", Apple
said in an emailed statement.
It said even if the South Korean legislation
were to become law, it would impose no obligation on the firm to approve any
developer programme account application.
Legal experts and developers around the world
await a decision in an antitrust case Epic Games has filed against Apple in a
US court.
Epic broke Apple's rules when it introduced
its own in-app payment system in Fortnite to circumvent Apple's commissions.
Apple told Epic Games that the move had violated its rules and kicked the game
off the App Store.
Facing growing anti-trust scrutiny from global
regulators, Apple said last week that it would let some apps like Netflix
provide links to their websites for user payments, a small concession that
would allow app developers to bypass the controversial 30 percent App Store fee
it charges. -Reuters
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