Apple successfully appeals Brazilian antitrust ruling

Apple has successfully appealed the antitrust ruling in Brazil, which would have forced Cupertino to bring app sideloading and third-party app payment options on its App Store for local iOS users. A federal judge overturned the Brazilian regulator CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica) and its requests against Apple’s anti-competitive practices, deeming the regulator’s demands “disproportionate and unnecessary”.

As per the demands cited last month, Apple would have 20 days to comply with the Brazilian regulator’s requests, or it would face a $43,000 daily fine. The regulator also demanded that Apple allow developers to link to external websites for payments or let all developers handle these payments themselves.

Apple previously made similar changes to its app downloads and payment options in the US, EU, South Korea, and Japan. CADE can now appeal the ruling and is expected to do so promptly, which means this is definitely not the last instance in this ongoing legal battle.

Source (in Portuguese)