Note to Juli Clover: When you write about legal filings, it's extraordinarily helpful if you can include links to the PDF source files. Thank you!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Asks Judge to Dismiss U.S. Antitrust Lawsuit
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's a really silly case for the DOJ to bring. Why don't they go after grocery stores for shelving fees?! Or oil companies that control pricing by throtteling processing?
First don't blame one man. That comes off as kind of weird given how the Justice Dept. works. And it shows a rather silly POV on the fact that reasonable people can come to different conclusions. And the courts are here to settle that.
Yep, the only times it doesn't happen is intentionally to use at a later point to say you had terrible lawyers.
It is interesting in threads like this to see people who have no clue what the case is actually about.
Part of the issue relates to Apple’s dominance in the market in question. What grocery retailer has the kind of market share that Apple has in smartphones/mobile OS in the U.S.? None. Besides, it's not like the DOJ hasn't also gone after grocery store chains, oil companies, etc. over the years for potential antitrust violations.
Hopefully the judge doesn't dismiss it. This antitrust lawsuit is one of the best things that could happen to Apple and very good for us Apple customers too
Unfortunately, too many people with Stockholm syndrome to recognize that.
It’s absolutely politically motivated. Take a look at how much Apple spends in lobbying compared to say, Google or Microsoft.
The last couple years has been hugely educational from a legal standpoint. I'm going to remember how rich people and companies deal with getting dragged into court next time I get a speeding ticket. Just have a lawyer file for every kind of delay under the sun for a few years, find a judge that likes the same hockey team write about how confusing the case would be to actually try, find some appeals court to just throw the whole thing out bc why not, point out that I may be guilty but think of all the money I won't make if I miss out on opportunities because of my sentencing, grab some heehaw from Texas who can just decide overnight to overrule the entire established legal framework of the country for lulz, maybe send a nice letter to the judge saying I disagree with the charges and asking for the entire case to just be dismissed entirely. lol
I hear the public confidence in our legal system is at risk, how could this be?
I hear the public confidence in our legal system is at risk, how could this be?
Very true, keep them honest. Get Phil Schiller on that stand.
2022
Alphabet (Google) – $10.9 million
Microsoft – $9.8 million
Apple – $9.4 million
Apple ramped up lobbying spending in 2022, outpacing tech peers
Foreign agents? Seriously?
Nobody will ever give Apple the respect it deserves.
Every new iPhone is literally a technological revolution bettering the lives of everyone.
But anti trust lawsuits is all the thanks Apple ever gets.
Tim Cook needs to buy up some useless third world country and turn it into his own.
Then we can all move there and enjoy our Apple products without stupid EU and US politicians messing with perfection.
That would teach those morons!
Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple!
Every new iPhone is literally a technological revolution bettering the lives of everyone.
But anti trust lawsuits is all the thanks Apple ever gets.
Tim Cook needs to buy up some useless third world country and turn it into his own.
Then we can all move there and enjoy our Apple products without stupid EU and US politicians messing with perfection.
That would teach those morons!
Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple!
I would say 65% market share is not quite a monopoly. The DOJ should get back to suing Apple if it gets to around 75%.
If they're doing the bidding of the EU, yes. That makes them enemies of the United States.
Of course I expect nothing but Apple meat riding on this post.
What is often confused on this forum is the difference between "monopoly" and "monopolistic behavior".
When you choose your Apple device, you have a market there. The app store.
There is no competition within the market of the Apple App store. In fact, that's the point. You can't advertise alternatives on the Apple App Store. You can't use purchasing systems other than Apple Pay. As a market in and of itself, it is unquestionably, undeniably, unflinchingly anticompetitive. This is why it's already struck down with EU markets in some of the case points here.
It is not about "do you have a choice in mobile phone or tablet products". That's how Apple is misleading you, the Apple legions. That's how Apple has evangelized the case. It's deflection, and not relevant to the case itself.
EU defines it similarly to say that Apple is a gatekeeper product, and as a gatekeeper product must be fair in how it handles product. Apple has stated that people have choice in product but unapologetically says it will not change ("security, ha) App store policy for any reasons. It's not about the product, it's about the store. People buy iPhone and iPad for that market, and that market owner is engaging in anticompetitive, monopolistic practices within that market.
The funny thing is it's so well known that it's even joked about. But they do not have to be a monopoly company or even a monopoly vendor to have this lawsuit. They just have to be engaging in monopolistic practices. That's extremely well established. (coughSpotifycoughEpiccough) Don't be fooled into thinking Apple as a whole has competition and therefore this is pointless.
Last edited by a moderator:
Already a non issue receding in the rear view mirror. Too few were affected to get troll traction just like every other gotcha issue that’s supposed to finally take the company down. There’s always next time for the usual crowd to pounce on.
9to5 published this topic first and included Apples’ letter.
Apple questions validity of DOJ antitrust lawsuit in bid to dismiss case - 9to5Mac
It’s been two months since the United States Department of Justice filed its lawsuit against Apple over alleged antitrust violations....
9to5mac.com
Apple is a private company making products designed and produced by Apple and offered to consumers able to understand before they purchase the costs involved in being part of the walled garden. Apple is not some nefarious den of thieves that hide all of this from public view.
And there are alternatives to every Apple product for sale in every market that Apple supplies.
Apple is not a utility company and neither you or any government has the right to decide how it goes to market, what it does to earn market share, or how it establishes and protects it intellectual property as long as the company operates within the legal frameworks set forth. And as outlined in Apple’s response to the government’s complaint, it does in fact operate within those boundaries.
What this lawsuit and the EU are attempting is to force Apple into an open platform. That’s not the role of government run by unelected bureaucrats, which are the source of the animation behind these efforts. To use the power of government in this way is to short circuit the market processes that have lead to innovation for decades. Today it’s Apple, tomorrow it’s some other enterprise that shielded bureaucrats deem in need of government control.
This is not Standard Oil, Ma Bell, IBM, GM, or even Microsoft (listed in my order of monopoly sins, worst to least worst). It’s a political play by people exercising power. It’s not about the little guy getting his.
Last edited by a moderator:
Can’t innovate my a**! We use organically sourced finewoven materials for the jump nets outside the solar powered roof!Nobody will ever give Apple the respect it deserves.
Every new iPhone is literally a technological revolution bettering the lives of everyone.
But anti trust lawsuits is all the thanks Apple ever gets.
Tim Cook needs to buy up some useless third world country and turn it into his own.
Then we can all move there and enjoy our Apple products without stupid EU and US politicians messing with perfection.
That would teach those morons!
Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple! Apple!
What can be most relevant is recent years and Apple has significantly upped its game/spend lately. Regardless, lobbying efforts don't necessarily help much anyway as Alphabet/Google has been dealing with its own DOJ antitrust lawsuit which may or may not end well for them.
Nintendo does the same thing with their switch console. Would you say they are engaging in monopolistic practices as well? It’s not like I have the option of slideloading games or run my own game store on their hardware. Everything goes through their platform and Nintendo gets their 30% cut no matter what.
I dare Epic to sue Sony for the ability to have their Epic games store offered alongside the PS store on PS5 consoles. It would be thrown out of court on Day 1. And yet Apple is being singled out simply because it’s Apple?
Find me a closed ecosystem that would let you do what the EU is expecting of Apple - open it up to competitors for no financial benefit to themselves, while still bearing the costs of running the platform and dealing with bad actors.
This is protectionism, plain and simple. If the EU wants to engage in it in order to prop up their own businesses and industries, it is their prerogative. Just be honest about the inability of tech companies in the EU to compete on a global stage and stop trying to pin all the blame on Apple here. It’s not Apple’s fault that they make great products that enough people love (and are willing to vote with their wallets) to make them one of the most successful companies in the world, and yes, one of the key selling points is that closed ecosystem that so many people here like to criticize and want to do away with.
Last edited by a moderator: