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Court Rules Apple Can Be Sued for Monopolizing iPhone App Market

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A U.S. Appeals Court today ruled that App Store customers can move forward with a lawsuit claiming Apple created an illegal app monopoly because it did not allow users to purchase iPhone apps outside of the App Store, reports Reuters.

The decision reverses a 2013 ruling that dismissed the lawsuit, originally filed in 2012. The case, Pepper et al v. Apple Inc., alleges that by not letting users purchase apps from third-party sources, there was no price competition, leading to higher app prices.

When the lawsuit was originally filed, Apple requested that it be dismissed because developers, not Apple, set prices for App Store apps. Apple simply provides the platform developers use to sell apps to customers.

According to today's ruling, because iPhone users purchase the apps directly from Apple, they have the right to file a lawsuit against the company.

An attorney for the plaintiffs in the case told Reuters that the aim of the lawsuit is to allow people to shop for iPhone apps wherever they want, an outcome that's unlikely due to security implications.
But if the challenge ultimately succeeds, "the obvious solution is to compel Apple to let people shop for applications wherever they want, which would open the market and help lower prices," Mark C. Rifkin, an attorney with Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz representing the group of iPhone users, told Reuters in an interview. "The other alternative is for Apple to pay people damages for the higher than competitive prices they've had to pay historically because Apple has utilized its monopoly."
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The Appeals Court ruling does not address the specific monopoly allegations levied at Apple and pertains only to whether or not Apple can be sued for this issue.

Article Link: Court Rules Apple Can Be Sued for Monopolizing iPhone App Market
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/12/app-store-monopoly-lawsuit-moves-forward/
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Abuah?!

what?

listen, i'm all against monopolistic competitive practices.
I'm all for releasing some stranglehold on economies that filthy rich have. i'm all for competition for luxury items.

but There's no monopoly here. If you don't like Apple's app store policy, There's a giant swath of Android manufacturers out there offering competitions, many come with their own App stores. If you're looking for an open and free market, that exists.

But where then does this "monopoly" end? What about OS? Apple has 100% of iOS installations on iPhones. is that not a monopoly preventing me choice of what OS I want? (although, I would love to buy an iPhone running android :p)


this is a slippery slope. Sometimes, yes, Lawsuits are required to keep a company in check, but sometimes, these things are more dangerous to the market than helpful
 
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This does make sense but even if google or amazon were to release app marketplaces for iOS I would still buy through Apple. If a smaller party could put together a good enough alternative I might try it but not amazon or google who are the obvious alternatives who would jump at the opportunity to sell apps on iOS.

Edit: also, it raises a concern. If Apple isn't vetting the apps who is to say they aren't dangerous or malicious? Apple could make it so that if you try to download an alternative App Store you have to agree to a warning that it could compromise the security of your device. Most people would stop right there.
 
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They created the iPhone, they created the App Store, they created the developer system. App developers agree to the terms and condition. The apps are approved for use with the iOS.

They own the entire ecosystem.

How in the hell so you sue somebody for something they developed and own 100%?

This will be an ongoing case which will cost millions and the outcome will be in favour of Apple, because of the above.
 
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and 1989 others said:
They created the iPhone, they created the App Store, they created the developer system. App developers agree to the terms and condition. The apps are approved for use with the iOS.

They own the entire ecosystem.

How in the hell so you sue somebody for something they developed and own 100%?

This will be an ongoing case which will cost millions and the outcome will be in favour of Apple, because of the above.
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The argument is that once a user buys a piece of hardware, they own that hardrware, not apple, and if they chose to install applications from a 3rd party, Apple should have no right to block them from doing so

I don't disagree with them. But I'm not convinced a lawsuit is the correct response here. If a company does something you fundamentally don't agree with, your best answer is to not purchase that product from them
 
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tmjdisorder said:
In other news McDonald's is being sued for being the only place you can buy a Big Mac
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Those monopolist bastards! :mad:

But seriously, the only *possible upside* I see from something like this, would be if it gave way to a ruling that somehow forced Apple to open up their OS to run on any machine.

That would be the death knell for Apple, but I can't say they wouldn't deserve it.

Even so, the affront to the ideal of freedom would certainly NOT be worth it.
 
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I'd like the option to install an alternative OS on my iPhone. Then I can continue to leverage my iDevice hardware after Apple gives up on it... but the app store has free apps. I don't understand the damage being done, or to whom.

You know who has overpriced apps? TGI Fridays.
 
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WinstonRumfoord said:
It's not like Apple is prohibiting anyone from buying Android Apps? I do not understand how this can possibly be seen as a monopoly. There are multiple alternatives to the App store, and nothing stopping one from using them, unless I am missing something?
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Is this really so hard to understand? There are absolutely NO alternatives to buying IOS(!!!!) apps other than Apple's own app store. With the large market that Apple owns, this IS a problem for customers because there is no competition.

The comparison with IOS vs Android has abolutely nothing to do with it.

Now imagine a world where Windows applications could only be bought from Microsoft. You would be screaming havoc -- even though there are the Mac and Linux. But the fact that there are other operating systems doesn't really help the majority of Windows users, does it?

This lawsuit against Apple is long overdue.
 
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MacRumors said:
The case, Pepper et al v. Apple Inc., alleges that by not letting users purchase apps from third-party sources, there was no price competition, leading to higher app prices.
Click to expand...

"The other alternative is for Apple to pay people damages for the higher than competitive prices they've had to pay historically because Apple has utilized its monopoly."
Click to expand...

Yes, the problem with the App Store is that it's too expensive. Sure!

These people are ridiculous. If anything the App Store created a race to the bottom—the likes of which the software industry has never seen before! Loads of 99 cent crap and freemium garbage.
 
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I'm sure something around line 2million in the iTunes EULA says you abide by Apple's terms of service :)

As others have said, if you don't like Apple's walled garden/ecosystem etc, then you're free to purchase a nice Android phone and install whatever you want on it

If anyone sues Apple, rather than send a lawyer to defend (at great cost), they just need to send the person a note 'Please return us your iPhone / iPad and we'll give you the market value for the 2nd hand product.'

:)
 
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