(Reuters) -Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney will attend a weeks-long antitrust trial against Apple Inc, while the iPhone maker’s App Store chief Phil Schiller will be present, attorneys for each of the companies said on Wednesday.
No cameras will be allowed during the trial starting May 3 in Oakland, California, between “Fortnite” creator Epic and Apple, U.S. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said during a pretrial conference on Wednesday.
Epic last year implemented its own in-app payment system on iPhones to avoid Apple’s fees, a violation of Apple’s App Store rules. Apple removed Epic’s apps, including the blockbuster “Fortnite” game, from the store. Epic later filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that Apple has abused its dominance in the market for mobile apps.
An audio-only feed will be available to the public, which will have access to exhibits filed during the trial, she said. One member of the media will be permitted to monitor the trial from the courtroom.
The judge gave a media coalition led by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press until the end of the week to determine a protocol for which member will be allowed in the courtroom.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang)
