Apple Sued by U.S. Department of Justice, Says Lawsuit is 'Wrong'

[BuffyzDead]

Meanwhile, many developers are fine with 15%/30% cut ....

Got something to back up this claim? I mean, you or someone must have surveyed every single developer to arrive at that conclusion, otherwise you're just pulling it out of your rear.
____________________________________________

Yes.
Every actual developer, that has ever taken the time to chime in, has repeatedly stated that they love the 15%/30% arraignment. ..Every single one.
They also state that they could not do it without the tools and infrastructure, that Apple has created, to help them create and grow their business.

The ONLY complaints are coming from the very big companies like Epic, Microsoft, X, etc. ...they want to take away from Apples incredibly successful App Store model.

And this has never been about any end-user benefit.
Because again, if 10,000 end-users complain that they can't run X-Box apps on their iPhone, that is an insignificant number compared to one billion devices

 

[macjoshua]

Cool. Can't wait for iOS to suck as much as Android.

 

[1129846]

The DOJ and the EU are DETERMINED to make your iPhone a malware-ridden piece of crap; as enjoyable to use as a desktop computer from 1998.

That screams a lot like FUD. Macs are not malware-ridden POS and never have been. Linux has not been a malware-ridden POS nor has any Unix based system.
Android is not a malware-ridden POS.

Basically this argument does not hold water when looking at other things that dont have the artifile restriction on it. If Apple needs all those restriction in place to be secure then iOS is a very insecure OS and I would strongly recommend we all abandon iOS.

FYI I believe iOS at its core is very secure so opening to say 3rd party Apps and side loading does not affect that security.

 

[transmaster]

Last time the DoJ sued Apple for antitrust violations the DoJ won though: it was the eBook price-fixing lawsuit in 2012.

That lawsuit also included Amazon, in fact mostly Amazon. Apple was just a eBook vendor with money. It was the New York publishing mafia that sued. They were seeing their monopolistic control of the publishing business eroding away. Kindle and self publishing authors that inhabit it have really put the hurts to the established publishing industry. Gone are the days of submitting a manuscript to the New York publishing houses only to have it rejected. You can go to Amazon's Kindle and publish it there, and let the reading public decide.

 

[MilaM]

If you're referring to the antitrust case against Microsoft, that would mean Apple was wrong as well since they backed the DoJ's case and provided testimony in it.

Please don't confuse us with inconvenient facts 🤭.

 

[scorpio vega]

"... and create a magical experience for our users."

Say wha? Do they think they're Disney World? They sell telephones.

They sell an ecosystem

 

[dannyyankou]

Apple’s time is ending. Their monopoly is over.

This is one monopoly that was allowed to run for too long.

And yet you have Windows in your avatar. Microsoft survived probably a bigger antitrust case against them.

 

[spazzcat]

People don’t chose iPhones cause they’re forced to, but because it’s different than Android. If we force all systems to be the same, there is no choice.

That is what kills me. A group of people want iPhone to be Andriod, and I don't get it.

 

[mcnallym]

whilst Apple does have over 50% of USA smartphone market then is interesting that the EU went for Applications on iOS sub market as opposed to the overall Smartphone market like the US is.

looking at how Reuters worded it

alleging it used the powerful demand for its iPhone and other products to drive up prices for its services and hurt smaller rivals in the first major antitrust effort against the smartphone maker by the Biden administration.

so it is saying that consumer demand has driven up the price as in more people wanted to buy an Apple iPhone compared to the alternatives and Apple has increased its prices.

surely anti-trust is where preventing your rivals from getting into the market or competing in the market. would not Apple increasing its prices make its competitors in the smartphone market more competitive compared to Apple. Unless of course they also increased their prices in a similar rate. But surely that would be where Apple would have to collide with its competitors to increase prices which from what I understand is not being alleged.

even the EU saw how would not get that to stick, and instead went for Once a User has CHOSEN to buy an iPhone then Apple is a gatekeeper with its AppStore for App Distribution on the iPhone.
smartphone market is do I buy an iPhone or do I buy one of the multitude of Android Phones.

so not sure how Apple in the smartphone market is breaking anti-trust laws.
what is apple doing with the iPhone that makes it deliberately awkward to buy an alternative Smartphone.

what is it that apple do that stops/hinders consumers from buying the alternatives to iPhone?

 

[erikkfi]

There goes the Biden admin demonstrating again to the whole world she has no idea what US antitrust law is or how technology works. Apple has plenty of anti-competitive practices that need to be addressed, but this ain't it.

Apple has plenty of anti-competitive practices that need to be addressed but the 88-page DoJ indictment misses them all?

Are you in character as Bill Gates?

 

[Brandon916]

Because a mobile phone poses a much high risk than a PC. It is easier to steal, and a phone has access to very personal information (banking, socials, email, location,…). People use phones much much more than a computer, and it is (in a lot of cases) always with you. That on it’s own makes it a high target value for hackers.

Also: phones are used in the billions, computers in the millions.

Really, the two hardly compare as platform.

That said, it is good that governments around the world get to grips with these mogul companies (Apple, Google, Meta, et etc) and set clear rules and laws as to what they can do.

Do I agree with the lawsuit? I can’t say. There is something to be said for it and against it.

So the govt shouldn't protect the millions of people on desktop? EU going to break up Apple regardless. It's going to be like a pc in the future. Everyone will be able to download any apps they want just like their pc. Whomever gets a virus on their pc gotta deal w/ it. Same w/ a phone.
If people are worried, just stick w/ Apple's app store. For everyone else who are brave, they can download their apps from any app store they please.

 

[now i see it]

“This lawsuit threatens who we are our monopoly “

 

[gnipgnop]

LOL at the cloud gaming. Those games aren’t even designed for mobile.

 

[1129846]

I remember Microsoft having 90%+ global marketshare. Apple currently does not.
I remember customers didn't have a single good alternative PC operating system to choose from. Customers have a choice of Android or iOS.

A duopoly is not that much better than a monopoly.
Also if your entire argument is just switch OS that is the same as if you dont like this happen in the US well move to a different country.

 

[rizzo41999]

Nonsense, I hope this utterly fails. Punishment for being too good, ridiculous.

 

[erikkfi]

I love having my tax dollars wasted on nonsense. At the same time, it will be fun to watch this blow up in the DOJ's face. Why spend money on things like better healthcare, feeding the homeless and better education ...

Right, because opposing vigorous antitrust and favoring government spending on healthcare and homelessness are two policy positions that famously go together.

 

[satchmo]

Didn't the government go after Microsoft back in the day for having similar monopolistic products that locked into their ecosystem?

 

[bcortens]

Yes I brought up third party apps notification guidelines that are literally in the human interface guidelines

Notifications | Apple Developer Documentation

A notification gives people timely, high-value information they can understand at a glance.

developer.apple.com

"Avoid sending a notification that tells people to perform specific tasks within your app."

💀

That rule has very little to do with preventing apps from sending push notifications asking users to subscribe... That is a guideline that they recommend as best practices rather than being something they say they will enforce through app review.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Meanwhile, many developers are fine with 15%/30% cut and most customers are fine with a single App Store to find all of their apps.

As usual, gov trying to control someone else's success for no reason. Huge overstep.

I'm normally 100% on the side of consumer protection...but this is totally the opposite. This ecosystem was chosen for being a walled garden, it kept things simple and provided protections for people who don't know what they're doing. If it hadn't become so popular, for the reason that it works as intended, it wouldn't have been a problem.

But this is going to come down to exactly what you said. One side claiming Government should leave business alone, the other saying it's protecting consumers...and the truth will be lost in the shuffle.

 

[sw1tcher]

lol at thinking I need to survey "every single developer" to backup a subjective term "many".

The claim was "MANY developers ... " - you don't have to survey tens of thousands of developers to know that "many" of them don't mind the %-age. You're not thinking very clearly.

When Apple has 37 million registered App Store developers around the world and the claim is that "many developers are fine with 15%/30% cut," yeah, you need to have data to back up that claim.

Sure, the word "many" is kind of subjective, but I consider many to be at least 30%. 30% of 37 million is 11,100,000. Even if you consider "many" to be less, let's say 20%, that's still 7,400,000 developers.

Talking to a few developer buddies

This sentiment is shared with literally every other developer I've ever talked to about it in the last 16 years of developing mobile software.

does not even come close to getting an accurate reading of sentiment from 37 million registered developers.

 

[duffman9000]

Most

There is almost nothing more cringe than listening to politicians and government officials try to talk about technology and it immediately becomes apparent they have no clue what they are talking about.

Most of these people are so old they have dust on their faces. And these are the people telling us how to use technology. No thanks boomers.

 

[srl7741]

Let's reflect on what we have learned........... Government ruins everything.

 

[btrach144]

And yet you have Windows in your avatar. Microsoft survived probably a bigger antitrust case against them.

But they went into a dormant state for 15-20 years and experienced little to no growth.

 

[webkit]

I remember Microsoft having 90%+ global marketshare. Apple currently does not.
I remember customers didn't have a single good alternative PC operating system to choose from. Customers have a choice of Android or iOS.

A company doesn't need to have 90% share to be in violation of antitrust laws, and having one or more alternatives does not negate antitrust laws. There are only two major players in the mobile OS market (iOS having the largest share in the U.S.) and an investigation and potential lawsuit against Apple regarding its alleged anticompetitive behavior is warranted.

 

[chouseworth]

Apple’s time is ending. Their monopoly is over.

This is one monopoly that was allowed to run for too long.

Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Anheuser Busch, ……..

Don’t look for this Apple complaint to be settled anytime within the next five, probably ten years. The companies listed above are all on the government’s hit list.