The judge hammered Apple for violating a ruling over restrictions in its App Store. The case was referred to federal prosecutors for a criminal contempt investigation.

Apple violated a U.S. court order that required the iPhone maker to allow greater competition for app downloads and payment methods in its lucrative App Store and will be referred to federal prosecutors,

The ruling was a stinging defeat for Apple in a long-running antitrust case brought by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, on behalf of app developers.