A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Apple technology company and international corporation knowingly violated an injunction intended to stop what the judge referred to as "Apple's anticompetitive conduct.

The company was excoriated by the court, in a win for Epic Games, which had sued Apple over its control of payments made on the Apple App.

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.