The United States continues its crusade against big technology. Sometimes using the Department of Justice and sometimes the Federal Communications Commission (FTC), Joe Biden's Government has launched an offensive against what it considers illegal monopolistic practices by companies such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon and Microsoft. The latest chapter is a major lawsuit announced this Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland against Apple for maintaining a closed purview on its flagship product, the iPhone.
The new 88-page lawsuit has been filed by the Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 16 states in federal court in New Jersey. In it, they accuse the technology giant of violating antitrust laws by blocking its rivals from accessing the hardware and software functions of its smartphone, thereby hindering its ability to offer alternative products and services to those of the company itself. by Tim Cook.
“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate antitrust laws,” Garland said in a statement. “If not confronted, Apple will continue to strengthen its monopoly on smartphones,” adds the attorney general, who has called a press conference to explain his action.
“Each step in Apple's course of action built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly,” the lawsuit claims, accusing the company of using its dominant position to extract more money from consumers, developers, and content creators. , artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants.
The lawsuit begins by exposing an internal Apple communication in which a senior executive warned Steve Jobs about how easy it had been for a user to switch from Apple's operating system to Android with its Kindle reading application. “It's not fun to watch,” he said. “Apple has repeatedly responded to competitive threats like this by making it more difficult or more expensive for its users and developers to leave than by making it more attractive for them to stay,” the text says.
“For many years, Apple has created a dominant platform and ecosystem for the iPhone that has driven the company's astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative applications, products and services threatened that dominance by making users less dependent on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone,” the lawsuit states. “Rather than responding to competitive threats by offering lower prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would address competitive threats by imposing a series of changing rules and restrictions in its pricing guidelines.” the App Store and in agreements with developers that would allow Apple to charge higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience and strangle competitive alternatives,” he adds.
This is the third time in the last 14 years that the Department of Justice sues Apple for anti-competitive violations, although it is the most significant case. In 2010, the company agreed to settle allegations that it had illegally agreed not to hire employees from Google, Adobe or Disney subsidiary Pixar. Two years later, the Justice Department sued Apple and book publishers for illegally fixing the price of e-books sold on the iPad. After the Department of Justice won the lawsuit, Apple was forced to change certain practices to improve its compliance with antitrust laws.
Apple also faces demands from its competitors. The offensive has intensified this week when Meta, Microsoft and the social network
Epic sued Apple in 2020, alleging that it violated antitrust laws by forcing consumers to obtain apps through the App Store and charging developers up to 30% commissions on purchases. The court order required Apple to allow developers to provide links and buttons to direct consumers to alternative payment options. Last week, Epic demanded that Apple be held in contempt, claiming that new rules and a new 27% fee imposed on developers made links effectively useless.
The Department of Justice filed two lawsuits against Google. One, still with Donald Trump in the White House, accused the company of alleged abuse of its dominant position in the search engine market, which has gone to trial and is awaiting sentencing. Another was presented by the current attorney general for the company's monopolistic actions in the digital advertising market and is still being processed. The FTC tried unsuccessfully to stop Microsoft's purchase of the video game firm Activision with another legal action. Additionally, last September, it sued Amazon, accusing it of illegally restricting competition and thereby “inflating prices, degrading quality, and stealing innovation from consumers and businesses.”
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