The U.S. DOJ’s Apple case is wrong on the facts and law and should never have been brought, said legal experts who weighed in on the government’s perplexing claims.
The U.S. government’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple… may prove to be an imperfect blueprint for addressing smartphone competition… and the government as a result may face a tougher time in taking on Apple, legal experts said.
The Department of Justice, along with 15 state governments, accused Apple of unlawfully monopolizing the smartphone market through restrictions on app developers that curb choice and innovation, which it said forces consumers to pay higher prices.
Apple said the government is wrong on the facts and law.The government has to prove that Apple’s business practices were “exclusionary” and harmed consumers by degrading the quality of rival products, according to several legal experts.
Apple can contract with whom it want and to design products as it sees fit, legal experts said.
It becomes a problem when a company with monopoly power takes steps to lessen short-term profit in order to keep rivals out in the longer term, said Douglas Ross, an antitrust scholar at University of Washington’s law school.
“The fundamental assumption DOJ seems to have is that Apple must cooperate with its rivals to allow rivals to compete with Apple,” Ross said. “That has antitrust law backwards.”
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MacDailyNews Take: The U.S. DOJ is going to waste a ton of U.S. taxpayers’ money because they don’t consider it taxpayers’ money, they wrongly consider it their money, and, as such, they’re fine with wasting tons of it to make some hackneyed political statement (“look, we’re protecting you little people from big, bad business!”) in an election year. This DOJ fiasco should actually be accounted for as a campaign expense.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.” – Ronald Reagan
This case is going nowhere. It may not even last much longer, but, if it does, in many, many years, after a huge waste of time and tax dollars, it’ll end with third-party app stores (side-loading) available in the U.S. for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.
Those who want safety, security, and privacy will stick to Apple’s App Store, but a single point of control is always a danger, especially when it comes to capricious censorship (see: pre-Musk Twitter, Apple’s App Store in China, etc.).
iPhone and iPad users must, like Mac users, have the ability to install third-party apps; even if they never do, for it will keep Apple honest. The ability to ban an app loses all power when it’s simply available in another App Store. – MacDailyNews, December 13, 2022
AppleInsider‘s William Gallagher and Mike Wuerthele have written an article which highlights the flimsiness of the DOJ’s case. Read it here: Apple will crush the DoJ in court if Garland sticks with outdated arguments.
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