Apple requested a last-minute postponement on the documents it needed to hand over in the ongoing Epic Games case, but Judge Thomas Hixson strongly disagreed. At the beginning of August, Apple was obliged to submit documents regarding the changes it made to the App Store rules by September 30.
These changes were made to comply with an injunction issued by the court. Apple initially notified the court that approximately 650 thousand documents needed to be examined. However, in a status report submitted on Thursday, it requested a two-week extension, stating that this number had exceeded 1.3 million.
Judge Hixson, who rejected Apple’s request on Friday, described the company’s attempt as “bad behavior” in the text of the decision shared by The Verge. Hixson emphasized that Apple and Epic provide joint status reports every two weeks, and that Apple has never mentioned this huge increase in the number of documents before. “This information should have been clear to Apple weeks ago,” he said, adding: “It is not credible that Apple learned about this situation within two weeks of the last status report.”
Judge Hixson: Apple has “virtually infinite resources”
The judge also stated that this request raises serious concerns about the quality of Apple’s reports and its intention to comply in a timely manner. He added that Apple has “nearly infinite resources” that can complete this task in the given time.
Judge Hixson described Apple’s behavior as a “classic moral hazard” and stated that the company did not have a sense of responsibility in requesting a delay, citing the increase in the number of documents, only four days before the document delivery deadline.