TL;DRThe Department of Justice has accused the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market.- Smartprix،
TLDR:
- The Justice Department accused the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market.
- Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said the lawsuit “threatens who we are.” [Apple] are and the principles that distinguish Apple products in extremely competitive markets.
- Ultimately, the lawsuit wants the world's most valuable publicly traded company to change its trading terms and pay an unspecified penalty for alleged illegal actions.
The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust complaint against Cupertino-based tech giant Apple on Thursday. The 88-page lawsuit, supported by 16 states, claims the company violated anticompetition laws to keep buyers within the company's device ecosystem. The lawsuit builds on years of scrutiny of the company's devices and services, primarily the iPhone, that allegedly help it maintain monopolistic control over app distribution, features, pricing, and more. . Let's discuss in more detail what the lawsuit says, how Apple responded to it, and what it demanded of the company.
What does the US lawsuit against Apple State mean?
The Justice Department accused the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market. The lawsuit targets everything that makes up Apple's ecosystem of devices that have exceptional continuity and connectivity with each other but don't work properly with other devices. In his statement, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “Apple creates barriers and makes it extremely difficult and costly for users and developers to venture outside of the Apple ecosystem. »
How did Apple react to the US lawsuit?
Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said the lawsuit “threatens who we are.” [Apple] are and the principles that distinguish Apple products in extremely competitive markets. The spokesperson adds: “If successful, it would hamper our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple, where hardware, software and services intersect.” Calling the company's technology “popular” technology, the spokesperson also mentioned that the lawsuit could set a dangerous precedent, allowing the government to intervene in “the design of popular technology.” Finally, Apple expresses its intention to “vigorously” defend the lawsuit.
According to a report from The Verge, the company believes the Justice Department should consider the global smartphone market, not just the United States, to determine whether it has exercised monopolistic control.
How did this happen all of a sudden?
It's important to mention that the Justice Department's case against Apple took years to complete. The first reports of this surfaced in June 2019, when lawmakers and federal antitrust authorities considered investigating big tech companies for anticompetitive practices.
App developers have complained for years about the closed nature of iOS (which doesn't allow users to download apps) and the company's commission structure (charging between 15 and 30 percent). Additionally, Apple also has its own apps that compete with some of them. For example, Apple Music, which offers a subscription model, competes with other popular music streaming services like Spotify.
According to a 2020 Congressional antitrust report, the House subcommittee formed to investigate an antitrust matter found that Apple had a monopoly on in-app distribution through the App Store on iOS devices. Following this, US lawmakers introduced the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. However, it was not until the European Union formulated the Digital Markets Act that Apple made significant changes (which only apply to users and developers in the European Union).
What amendments does the lawsuit ask for from Apple?
Ultimately, the lawsuit wants the world's most valuable publicly traded company to change its trading terms and pay an unspecified penalty for alleged illegal actions. He wants the company to stop exercising power over its App Store and controlling the distribution of apps available to millions of customers in the region. For years, Apple didn't allow competing messaging platforms to work with iMessage, preventing Android users from sending and receiving “blue bubble” messages. The lawsuit also wants the company to change this because it could have forced customers to buy expensive iPhones. While these are just a few examples, here is what the “Relief Request” section of the lawsuit asks for.
- Prevent Apple from using its control over app distribution to undermine cross-platform technologies such as super apps and cloud streaming apps, among others;
- Prevent the company from using private APIs that limit the functionality of technologies like messaging, smartwatches, digital wallets, etc.
- Prevent the company from using the terms and conditions of its contracts with developers, accessory manufacturers and consumers to maintain or obtain the alleged monopoly.
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