Apple's U.S. Lobbying Spending Hits Record High as It Fights Antitrust Legislation

[MacRumors]

Apple spent $2.5 million on lobbying in the first three months of 2022, a record high for the company, reports Bloomberg. Apple bumped up its spending on lobbying to fight back against antitrust legislation that the U.S. government is considering at the current time.

Apple in the fourth quarter of 2021 spent $1.86 million on lobbying, so its spending is up over 34 percent in the early months of 2022. Apple's previous high was $2.2 million in the second quarter of 2017, a year after Apple's battle with the FBI over iPhone unlocking.

Both the United States and Europe are developing antitrust legislation that would significantly impact the way that tech companies like Apple operate. In the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved multiple bills like the Open App Markets Act, which would require Apple to allow alternate app stores and alternate payment methods on the iPhone.

No bills have been passed in the United States, but the Senate is considering them and the European Union has already provisionally agreed on the Digital Markets Act, legislature that is similar to the Open App Markets Act.

Like Apple, Google has also been lobbying against these antitrust bills, spending $2.96 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Article Link: Apple's U.S. Lobbying Spending Hits Record High as It Fights Antitrust Legislation

 

[alex00100]

Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this

 

[trusso]

Genuine question: is lobbying simply a nicer word for bribery now?

To my mind, lobbying suggests paying a relatively consistent number of people to make arguments to lawmakers for a particular side of an issue. But if there are significant increases in lobbying spending, I’m genuinely curious on where does that money go?

I simply don’t think lawmakers would continue to screw over their constituents so badly if they weren’t getting kickbacks somewhere along the line.

 

[TiggrToo]

Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this

Challenge accepted.

Apple are a publicly traded company that first and foremost have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize their investment.

This is the sort of action designed to do just that.

Now, is it fair to everyone who isn’t a shareholder - well, that’s a whole different story.

But it’s easy to justify.

And no, I don’t like it. I dislike lobbying. Period.

 

[GMShadow]

Genuine question: is lobbying simply a nicer word for bribery now?

To my mind, lobbying suggests paying a relatively consistent number of people to make arguments to lawmakers for a particular side of an issue. But if there are significant increases in lobbying spending, I’m genuinely curious on where does that money go?

I simply don’t think lawmakers would continue to screw over their constituents so badly if they weren’t getting kickbacks somewhere along the line.

I expect the increases come from adding different firms, etc.

Politicians get their money from 'cleaner' sources now, like dirty stock trades. Information is free in that respect, and wouldn't be filed under lobbying expenses.

 

[alexe]

Apple should just finally get on board with the fact that they've become too big by now to be allowed to behave however the eff they want.

They are a great company and do a lot of cool stuff, but they also abuse their power and behave anti-competitively in more than one way.

Being the most valuable company on earth you have more responsibility than just to your shareholders.

 

[now i see it]

The hired lobbyists got bills to pay too

 

[guerro]

NEWS FLASH: Bribery is easily justified.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Wow! That’s insane. A good chunk of money.

 

[Will do good]

To Apple, $2.4 million is like a penny in my bank account

 

[the8thark]

Tim Cook Can't keep his hats separate. He is wearing his lobbyist hat and his CEO hat at the same time.
Very immoral and should be held to account for it.

 

[robco74]

It's actually not that much when compared to others.

 

[maxoakland]

This disgusts me

 

[ouimetnick]

If only they spent some of that money on fixing Siri, especially Siri on HomePod.

 

[california_kid]

So where does all the lobbying money go when every single elected official swears "I'm not beholden to lobbyists"?

Rhetorical question of course.....

 

[genovelle]

Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this

It’s pretty easy. Apple’s competitors who do very little to support the App Store because few of their customers come that way have spent much more lobbying law makers around the world going as far in the US as to write their own bills as give them to state lawmakers to submit.

These weaklings can’t compete by offering a better product that customers actually want more and failed to prove their cases in court, so they Presented false information to lawmakers hoping they would be gullible enough to screw consumers to benefit them and themselves. It was working. Apple should have gone on the offensive much earlier, but they didn’t realize how stupid lawmakers could be.

 

[erikkfi]

Compromise: Apple can keep editorial control over content sold on iOS, but must make developer accounts free and stop taking commissions for sales. Or they can allow application installation as it is on the Mac, and continue taking commissions in a vibrant and competitive environment.

 

[paulovsouza]

Apple should use that money to figure out a way to get ahead of the situation. Offer what people are asking for like sideloading, and 3rd party payment, but in a very Apple way. And then figure out where else they can get revenue. If they just try to battle this worldwide, they won’t have the control of what will be implemented. Especially not from governments worldwide that can implement all different laws and regulation, from people who can barely use their phones.

 

[I7guy]

Can't wait to see how people here find ways to justify this

Go apple. The legislation should be flushed down the toilet. So yeah, whatever it takes.

 

[I7guy]

Apple should use that money to figure out a way to get ahead of the situation. Offer what people are asking for like sideloading, and 3rd party payment, but in a very Apple way. And then figure out where else they can get revenue. If they just try to battle this worldwide, they won’t have the control of what will be implemented. Especially not from governments worldwide that can implement all different laws and regulation, from people who can barely use their phones.

That’s the point about not caving in. Apple believes sideloading is a detriment. Why cave in to something that will destroy the ecosystem? At least if there is legislation it has to be across the board.

 

[I7guy]

Compromise: Apple can keep editorial control over content sold on iOS, but must make developer accounts free and stop taking commissions for sales. Or they can allow application installation as it is on the Mac, and continue taking commissions in a vibrant and competitive environment.

Probably not going to happen. Your compromise strips apple of control over its IP.

 

[aidler]

It is a self-defeating effort. Apple will have to spend more and more money to defend its backward position. Instead, they could spend the money to remain the market leader for the foreseeable future with an open AND secure operating system.

 

[rlhamil]

Apple should just finally get on board with the fact that they've become too big by now to be allowed to behave however the eff they want.

They are a great company and do a lot of cool stuff, but they also abuse their power and behave anti-competitively in more than one way.

Being the most valuable company on earth you have more responsibility than just to your shareholders.

All resellers have markups; having them for apps an in-app purchases is not unreasonable, nor is requiring the use of the advertising mechanisms they provide (privacy). And side loading is just a hazard, although someone with a Mac, Xcode, and source code for their app can do it now.

It might be SENSIBLE for them to cut their in-app purchase percentage to somewhere near as low as they can without losing $$ on the costs of operating the services it depends on. It IS a nuisance to have to go to a web site that the app cannot even name or link to, to make a purchase at all for some (Kindle books, even in the Amazon app, although no problem in the browser) items. They've already reduced it to 15% for smaller businesses or some other cases; if they cut it to 15% or less across the board, I suspect a lot of the antitrust talk would go away.

 

[Karma*Police]

Apple should just finally get on board with the fact that they've become too big by now to be allowed to behave however the eff they want.

They are a great company and do a lot of cool stuff, but they also abuse their power and behave anti-competitively in more than one way.

Being the most valuable company on earth you have more responsibility than just to your shareholders.

There is no institution that is bigger and more powerful and more monopolistic and abuses their power more often than the government.

Not to mention, it’s the government that creates these business monopolies with their policies, like shutting down mom and pop shops while allowing Walmart and Target to remain open during Covid.

Also, they literally created the conditions to allow big business and wealthy individuals to influence politics so that corrupt politicians can benefit. That’s why campaign finance reform legislation never gets passed.

 

[Wildkraut]

Lobbying = Bribery and undermines democracy. It should be punished with 3years+ Prison for the involved persons.