2021年经济学人 Epic与Apple的反垄断大战(1)（在线收听）

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Big tech and antitrust - An unEpic victory

科技巨头和反垄断——一场非Epic的胜利（译者注：unEpic为双关，既指这场官司的获胜方不是Epic，也指这场胜利是非史诗性的）

Apple wins a court battle against Epic Games — sort of

苹果赢了一场与Epic Games的官司——算是吧

“California has always been a place for people with big ambitions and big dreams... We are proud to call California our home.”

“加州一直生活着许多拥有远大抱负和梦想的人……我们很自豪能把加州称为我们的家。”

It is unclear why Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, prefaced the launch of the iPhone 13 on September 14th with a serenade to the Golden State.

目前还不清楚，为什么苹果老总蒂姆·库克会在9月14日iPhone 13发布会上用一首献给金州（加州别称）的赞曲作为开场白。

It was certainly not a reaction to the ruling handed down days earlier by federal judge there, Yvonne González Rogers.

这当然不是对那里的联邦法官Yvonne González Rogers几天前做出的裁决的回应。

Her decision in a lawsuit brought against Apple by Epic Games, which owns “Fortnite”, a popular video game, will make Mr Cook’s life tougher.

她在Epic Games对苹果提起的诉讼中做出的决定，将使库克的日子更加艰难。Epic Games旗下拥有热门视频游戏“堡垒之夜”。

On a skim of the 185-page decision, Apple can claim to be the winner.

浏览一下这份185页的裁决书，苹果可以说是赢家。

Broadly speaking, Epic had accused the iPhone-maker of abusing a monopoly over its App Store by, among other things, forcing developers to use Apple’s in-app payment system and to pay excessive commissions of up to 30%.

概括来说就是，Epic指控这家iPhone制造商滥用其App Store的垄断地位，其中包括迫使开发商使用苹果的应用内支付系统，并支付高达30%的超额佣金。

Not so, the judge argued.

法官认为事实并非如此。

In her view, the relevant market is not the iPhone or the App Store, but “digital mobile gaming transactions”, where Apple competes with Google’s Android operating system.

在她看来，相关市场不是iPhone或App Store，而是苹果与谷歌的安卓操作系统所竞争的“数字移动游戏交易”。

Although Apple controls more than half of this market, that does not amount to wrongdoing.

尽管苹果控制着这个市场的一半以上，但这并不能构成不当行为。

“Success is not illegal,” Ms González Rogers wrote, adding that no evidence was presented to suggest that Apple erected barriers to entry or engaged in conduct decreasing output or innovation.

González Rogers写道：“成功并不违法。”她补充说，没有证据表明苹果设置了进入市场的壁垒，或参与了减少产出或创新的行为。

Tim Sweeney, Epic’s boss, did not hide his disappointment.

Epic的老总蒂姆·斯威尼毫不掩饰自己的失望。

“Today’s ruling isn’t a win for developers or for consumers,” he tweeted, and vowed to fight on “for fair competition... for a billion consumers”.

他在推特上写道：“今天的裁决既不是开发商的胜利，也不是消费者的胜利。”他发誓将继续“为10亿消费者……争取公平的竞争”。

Apple did not hold back its glee.

苹果没能克制住自己的高兴。

In a statement, Kate Adams, Apple’s general counsel, called it “a resounding victory”.

苹果的法律总顾问凯特·亚当斯在一份声明中称，这是“一次彻底的胜利”。

“We’re extremely pleased with this decision.”

“我们对这个判决非常满意。”