In a gotcha moment, Forrest, a former federal judge, resurrected a comment she said Apple co-founder Steve Jobs made in 2008 to a colleague that the App Store licensing agreement is designed to “avoid competitors.” Separately, Epic dredged up a 2011 email from Apple’s top executive in charge of the App Store, Phil Schiller, floating the idea of cutting its fees when the store reached $US1 billion in profitability.

Apple’s lawyer, Karen Dunn, shot back that Epic’s legal gambit threatens to upend a marketplace that has been a huge benefit to developers and consumers alike.

“Epic is here, demanding that this court force Apple to let into its App Store untested and untrusted apps and app stores, which is something Apple has never done,” Dunn told US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is hearing the case without a jury. “Apple’s unwavering commitment to safety, security, reliability and quality does not allow that, and the antitrust laws do not require it.”

During Sweeney’s time on the stand, he acknowledged that Epic deliberately violated App Store terms and conditions when it set up its own direct-payment system on iOS to bypass Apple’s fees. But he defended his company’s actions.

“The world should see that Apple exercises total control over availability of all software on iOS,” he said.

Through Sweeney’s cross-examination, Apple’s lawyers tried to show that the 30 per cent App Store commission is a gaming industry standard. Sweeney said he was opposed to Apple’s policy of blocking users from downloading other app marketplaces on iOS mobile devices so they would spend their money on purchases beyond the App Store.

Gonzalez Rogers asked Sweeney if he had reached out to lawyers representing developers who filed a class-action lawsuit over the same issues before he sued Apple. Sweeney said he was aware of the case but Epic went ahead and sued Apple on its own.

Sweeney’s cross-examination will resume Tuesday.

Later in the trial, which is expected to last three weeks, Apple will call on CEO Tim Cook, Schiller and another top executive, Craig Federighi, to explain how they designed the App Store, Dunn said.

Bloomberg