The federal government is suing Apple.
The landmark civil lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, accuses the Big Tech behemoth of violating antitrust laws through its alleged monopoly on the smartphone market. The DOJ alleges that Apple addressed competitive threats by “imposing a series of shape-shifting rules and restrictions on its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, stifle innovation, offer less secure or degraded user experience and limit the competitive alternatives.”
The company effectively “locked out users and developers,” the government claims, by “enhancing[ing] and deepen[ing] the competitive moat around the iPhone.”
One example of Apple's “anti-competitive behavior,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference Thursday, is how it makes it harder to message users with non-Apple phones. iPhone users who have tried to include Android users in a group text know this struggle well.
The complaint refers in detail to the matter. “If an iPhone user messages a non-iPhone user in Apple Messages, the text not only appears as a green bubble, but incorporates limited functionality,” it says. “Chat is not encrypted. Videos are pixelated and grainy, and users can't edit messages or see typing markers.”
The DOJ also notes that in 2022 when Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked if the company would fix iPhone messaging on Android, with the questioner complaining that he couldn't send his mom certain videos, Cook replied: “buy the your mom and iPhone.”
“If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly,” Garland added in a statement. “The Department of Justice will vigorously enforce antitrust laws that protect consumers from higher prices and fewer choices. This is the legal obligation of the Department of Justice and what the American people expect and deserve.”
Apple responded Thursday, arguing that the lawsuit is “erroneous in fact and in law.”
“This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” company spokesman Fred Sainz said in a statement. “If successful, it will hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple – where hardware, software and services intersect.”
Apple has long been under government scrutiny over monopoly issues. The company was was fined nearly $2 billion by the European Union just a few weeks ago for its efforts to stifle music streaming competition.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/apple-sued-justice-department-iphone-monopoly-1234991901/
