The U.S. Justice Department is poised to sue Apple as soon as Thursday, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws by blocking rivals from accessing hardware and software features its iPhone, Bloomberg News reports citing “people familiar with the matter.” Anna Edgerton, Kartikay Mehrotra, and Leah Nylen for Bloomberg News: ‎ Apple shares fell as much as 1.4% to $176.10 in late trading on the news. They had been down 7.2% this year through Wednesday’s close. The coming case will mark the third time that the Justice Department has sued Apple for antitrust violations in the past 14 years, but it is the first case accusing the iPhone maker of illegally maintaining its dominant position. The lawsuit comes as Apple…

Meta Platforms, Microsoft, X, and Match filed a legal petition protesting Apple’s App Store policies, complaining about how Apple is complying with a U.S. federal court ruling that ordered the App Store to allow alternative payment methods. Aaron Tilley and Bradley Olson for The Wall Street Journal: ‎ The four companies, which have some of the most popular apps on the app store, join Fortnite-maker Epic Games in protesting Apple’s plan to charge a commission for payments made outside the app store.  Apple in January announced plans to allow developers to process purchases outside of its app store, but the company drew sharp criticism from software-makers when it said it would charge a 27% commission in such cases. Earlier this…

Apple representatives met with the U.S. Department of Justice last week in a final bid to persuade the agency not to file an antitrust suit against the company, Bloomberg News reports citing “people familiar with the matter.” Leah Nylen for Bloomberg News: ‎ The company and its lawyers met with Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who will make the final call on whether to file a suit, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential meeting. Such “last rites” meetings are often one of the final steps before a lawsuit is filed. Antitrust enforcers, who have been probing the company since 2019, allege that Apple has imposed software and hardware limitations on its iPhones and iPads…

Spain’s high court has suspended 194 million euros ($209 million) in fines imposed on Apple and Amazon by the local antitrust watchdog in July, pending an appeal by the tech giants, an Amazon spokesperson said on Thursday. Reuters: ‎ CNMC, as the watchdog is known, fined Amazon and Apple for colluding to prevent dealers other than Amazon from selling Apple wares on Amazon’s websites in Spain. Apple was fined 143.6 million euros and Amazon 50.5 million euros and both companies at the time said they would appeal. The court decision to suspend the payment is part of the appeal process, the Amazon spokesperson said. Amazon said in July that as a result of the deal with Apple, the number of…

Russia’s FAS antitrust agency said on Monday that Apple paid a fine of 1.2 billion roubles ($13.65 million), imposed over the company’s alleged abuse of its dominant market position concerning in-app payments. Reuters: ‎ Apple, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, has previously “respectfully disagreed” with a FAS ruling that Apple’s distribution of apps through its iOS operating system gave its own products a competitive advantage. The Federal Antimonopoly Service said Apple had paid the fine on Jan. 19 and that the funds had been transferred to Russia’s federal budget. In February 2023, the FAS said Apple had paid an around $12.1-million fine in another antitrust case alleging Apple’s abuse of its dominance in…

Apple is poised to face a U.S. DOJ antitrust lawsuit as soon as March, Bloomberg News reports Wednesday citing “people familiar with the case.” Leah Nylen for Bloomberg News: ‎ Antitrust enforcers allege that Apple has imposed software and hardware limitations on its iPhones and iPads to impede rivals from effectively competing, echoing concerns raised by Spotify Technology SA, bluetooth tracker Life360 Inc.’s Tile and messaging service Beeper. The Justice Department and Apple lawyers have met three times to discuss a potential suit, said the people, speaking anonymously to discuss an ongoing probe. The Justice Department hopes to file a suit in the first quarter of the year, though that timing could slip, the people said, as the DOJ’s most…