The US Department of Justice and more than a dozen states have filed a federal lawsuit accusing Apple of violating antitrust laws by making its hardware and software products largely unavailable to competitors. Apple’s “walled garden” approach to business, as it is often called, makes it difficult for competitors to compete and for customers to switch to other companies’ products. The lawsuit comes after the European Commission Apple was fined 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion).. Apple prevented music streaming developers from “informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services” outside the App Store, the commission found.
Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote in a press release: “Apple weakens applications, products and services that will make users rely less on the iPhone.” Posted by CNN. “Apple is using its monopoly power to squeeze more money out of consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants, and others.”
The complaint alleges that Apple illegally monopolized the software market, and the DOJ suggests that the company used its control over iOS to block innovative apps and cloud streaming services from the public. The suit also alleges that Apple made it difficult for Android messages to appear on iPhones, blocked rival payment platforms and limited the integration of rival smartphones with iOS devices.
“By stifling these and many other technologies, Apple strengthens its smartphone monopoly, not by making its products more attractive to users, but by discouraging innovation that threatens Apple’s smartphone monopoly,” the complaint states.
Apple released a statement on the suit, suggesting it would block the kinds of gadgets and software that have made it one of the world’s most valuable companies. The company also said the lawsuit, if successful, would “set a dangerous precedent that gives the government the power to take a heavy hand in the design of people’s technology.”
The New York Times first DOJ reportedIt appears that the company may file a “substantial antitrust case” against Apple in January, as the investigation into the company nears completion. While the department initially focused on strategies employed by the company to maintain its iPhone dominance, it has reportedly expanded the scope of the investigation to include other aspects of Apple’s business. according to The Times’, The DOJ also looked at the Apple Watch’s ability to integrate more deeply with the iPhone than rival wearables and the inability of competing operating systems to access the company’s iMessage service.
The lawsuit against Apple is the latest evidence of the government’s growing control over the tech industry’s biggest players. The Justice Department has previously accused Google of withholding unfair monopoly over search and search-related ads, and he also filed a separate antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of wrongful termination. monopolizes digital advertising market. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission has filed an antitrust lawsuit Against Amazon, accusing it of some monopolistic practices that prohibit merchants from offering their goods at lower prices on other platforms. Commission and more than 40 US states In 2020, he sued Metaas well as to beat the competition to buy former rivals Instagram and WhatsApp.
