The US has a huge antitrust lawsuit against Apple
Apple, Sainz, and the New Jersey District Court : A High-Dimensional Approach to Antitrust in the Context of the American Enterprise
Apple denies the claims outlined in the suit, as company spokesperson Fred Sainz says that it “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.” At the same time, Apple is also contending with new antitrust rules in the European Union, which have forced the tech giant to open iOS to third-party marketplaces, sideloading, and new default settings. But some prominent developers argue that Apple’s changes still aren’t enough.
The case will be heard in the US District Court in New Jersey. Attorneys general from New York, California, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine,Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia joined the complaint.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland acknowledged the resource imbalance the government is up against, facing a company worth trillions of dollars. Garland believes that it is important to allocate resources to protect the American people when there is an institution with a lot of resources. “And that is certainly the case where individual Americans have no ability to protect themselves.”
Doj: Apple is Fine for Keeping Users Away from the Cross-Purpose Message Streaming Quagmire
Cloud streaming services bring their game hub to the web on the iPhone, making it less convenient for users to find and access them. Cloud streaming services can now send a single app with the ability to stream all the games offered in their catalog, which was only recently reversed by Apple. Despite this, the DOJ claims Apple “wielded its power over app distribution to effectively prevent” developers from offering cloud streaming services on the iPhone, adding that “even today, none are currently available on the iPhone.”
Europe has moved ahead of the US in its efforts to rein in tech. A check on the power of the large platforms is being placed by new rules that were instituted through the Digital Markets Act. The European Commission fined Apple 1.84 billion in connection to a complaint about its restrictive app store practices. The EU said its investigation found that “Apple bans music streaming app developers from fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app.”
The DOJ will have its hands full with tech monopoly suits in the coming years. The trial over the advertising technology ofgoogle is set to start in the fall after closing the search distribution case.
It is the exclusive software features of Apple that make the phones seem inferior to other phones, even when those drawbacks have nothing to do with how Apple conducts business and what companies like Google and Samsung do.
The Justice Departments says that Apple has been able to keep people away from cross-platform messaging apps because of these restrictions.
A quote from Tim Cook at the Code Conference has been included in the complaint. “I can’t send my mom certain videos,” an audience member told Cook when complaining about the cross-platform messaging quagmire. Cook told him to buy a mom an Apple device.
The Apple Watch is a tool in the kit that Apple uses to make sure people upgrade to another cellphone when upgrade time rolls around, rather than the other way around, where it would be meaningless, according to the Justice Department.
“For years, Apple blocked cloud gaming apps that would have given users access to desirable apps and content without needing to pay for expensive Apple hardware because this would threaten its monopoly power,” the lawsuit reads. In Apple’s opinion, consumers could purchase a solid cloud computing device for 25 bux at a garage sale and it would “work fine”, in contrast to a world where all that mattered was who had the cheapest hardware.
As cloud streaming services started becoming more popular in 2020, Apple introduced new rules that seemed designed to give services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Facebook Gaming, and GeForce Now a place on the App Store. But in reality, it did the opposite. The rules severely limited the presence of cloud gaming services on the App Store and Apple required developers to submit their games to the App Store for approval individually rather than having them exist in a singular hub of games.
However, the DOJ’s lawsuit claims that Apple doesn’t want users or companies in the US to benefit from super apps. It says that during a board of directors presentation, Apple said it was using super apps to boost the sales of the cell phones in countries where they are popular. If someone benefits from using a high quality app, they do not need to be tied to any specific platform, like Apple.
This setup is convenient for users and developers, the DOJ argues, as users don’t have to download a bunch of separate apps to gain access to different capabilities. Since these programs run in an app instead of on a phone, developers don’t have to push separate app updates for the two platforms.
“Apple recognizes that super apps with mini programs would threaten its monopoly,” the lawsuit states. One Apple Manager said allowing super apps to become the main gateway where people play games, book a car, make payments, would let the barbarians in at the gate.
Although the lawsuit mentions that Apple blocks mini apps from using the API they need to use Apple’s in-app purchase system, the company said it would start letting mini apps and games use its system in January. It’s unclear whether the change addresses the formatting arguments the DOJ makes in its lawsuits, as the App Store Guidelines only mention that mini apps should adhere to privacy rules, among other unrelated requirements.
How Apple has failed to enforcate the antitrust laws in its three-year Apple data, according to a DOJ official
Apple is worth nearly $3 trillion, making it one of the highest valued companies in the world. The market analyst firm said that the iPhone is one of the most popular phones in the world. According to the Justice Department, Apple was able to ensure its place at the top.
Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have filed antitrust lawsuits against several leading tech companies.
A DOJ official noted that companies that violate the antitrust laws end up being more valuable than they were, when asked about whether the new lawsuit might affect Apple’s business. Microsoft, thanks to its success in cloud services and more recently AI, is now the most valuable company in the world.
The antitrust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s accused the company of illegally forcing PC manufacturers and others to favor its web browser Internet Explorer. It is widely credited with causing the company to be slow to embrace the web, falling behind a wave of startups including Google and Amazon that grew into giants by making web services useful and lucrative.
Keeping the mobile operating system, app store and other services closed offers greater security, Apple has long argued. But Newman says that the DOJ complaint indicates that Apple doesn’t enforce these policies consistently as would make sense if the goal was to protect users.
