U.S. Justice Department Ramps Up Apple Investigation Amid Antitrust Concerns

[MacRumors]

The U.S. Department of Justice has escalated its antitrust probe into Apple in recent months, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report claims additional litigators have been assigned to the case and new requests have been submitted for documents and consultations with companies connected to the investigation.

As part of the probe, the report claims the Justice Department is looking into Apple's App Store business practices and whether iOS favors Apple's own apps and services over those provided by third-party developers and other companies.

Apple declined to comment on the report, but the company has previously denied that it operates anticompetitively and said it welcomes competition on the App Store.

The investigation began in 2019, when the Justice Department inquired about Apple's policies surrounding the App Store and met with developers to learn more about the App Store's review process. If the Justice Department chooses to move forward with a complaint, then Apple would face an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. government.

Apple has been accused of or investigated for anticompetitive practices in several other countries over the past few years, including the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, and more, with many of the complaints related to the App Store. As a result, Apple has been forced to make changes to the App Store in some countries, such as allowing developers to offer alternative payment systems in South Korea.

Article Link: U.S. Justice Department Ramps Up Apple Investigation Amid Antitrust Concerns

 

[turbineseaplane]

Love it ...

Apple needs to be brought to heel a bit

We'll all be better off for it -- even Apple (eventually)

 

[GMShadow]

Tim's gonna have to buy a lot of paintings to fix this.

 

[lazyrighteye]

"You're out of your element, Donny."

 

[BootsWalking]

Time to remake the 1984 commercial but with Apple the one talking on the the big screen.

 

[vegetassj4]

Interesting read:

Why the Apple and Google app store monopoly could soon be over

App stores set the rules on privacy but there is another way.

theconversation.com

 

[Realityck]

The U.S. Department of Justice has escalated its antitrust probe into Apple in recent months, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report claims additional litigators have been assigned to the case and new requests have been submitted for documents and consultations with companies connected to the investigation.

This is an investigation about anticompetitive practices that Apple might be identified with.

9to5 had this additional information.

The probe is reaching the point to where the team is looking for ways to involve Jonathan Kanter, the head of the DOJ’s antitrust division. As previous reports have said, Kanter represented opponents of Apple, including Spotify, Tile, Match, and Basecamp, prior to joining the DOJ.

Apple would easily be able to challenge this anticompetitive investigation probe based on obvious bias of Jonathan Kanter that is involved.

 

[vegetassj4]

Time to remake the 1984 commercial but with Apple the one talking on the the big screen.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-device-analytics-contain-identifying-icloud-user-data-claim-security-researchers.2371033/post-31747910

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

I mean this has been going on for a decade at least. Stop grandstanding and wasting taxpayer money already. Billions of people trust the security and privacy ecosystem of Apple. Keep your ignorant hands off and stop helping hackers and thieves etc!

 

[antnythr]

A headline I like to see

 

[jaw04005]

This is an investigation about anticompetitive practices that Apple might be identified with. The App Store is only part of it, you have Apple Pay, Apple Card also competing with traditional banking industry and credit card companies.

Well, I for one would definitely want my tax dollars going to protect the traditional banking industry and credit card companies.

No one needs more protection than those two industries.

 

[erikkfi]

Apple … said it welcomes competition on the App Store.

Big if true (but it isn’t, hence the investigation).

 

[BenGoren]

Well, I for one would definitely want my tax dollars going to protect the traditional banking industry and credit card companies.

No one needs more protection than those two industries.

Not to mention that the Apple Card is a Goldman Sachs Mastercard.

Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is the second-largest investment bank (after Chase and ahead of BofA) and Mastercard … I mean, do I really need to continue?

Worrying that the banks and credit card companies need protection from “newcomer” Apple is like worrying that the auto industry needs protection from “newcomer” Elon Musk.

There are legitimate concerns over the Apple Store — both its high cost of entry and the dangers of removing Apple as the gatekeeper. Personally, I’m happy to let the experiment continue … those who want to install anything they please are free to use a Google phone; let those of us who prefer the comfort of curation stay in our bubble. Similarly, I don’t want any of today’s robots driving my car, which is why the EVs in my driveway are a Chevy Bolt and a Nissan Leaf; there’s no need for me to pray to the ghost of Nicolai Tesla that I won’t have a front-row seat to the death of a kid playing ball in the street.

When Apple threatens to drive Google and Samsung out of business, then it’s time to worry. I don’t expect that to happen soon.

But … seriously? Worrying about what the big bad Apple wolf will do to the poor widdle financial industry?

b&

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple declined to comment on the report, but the company has previously denied that it operates anticompetitively and said it welcomes competition on the App Store.

Welcomes competition 🤣

It must've been another company that has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent alternative 3rd party payment options or prevent reader app developers from including an in-app link to their own website for users to set up and/or manage payments for their accounts.

 

[sw1tcher]

This is an investigation about anticompetitive practices that Apple might be identified with.

9to5 had this additional information.

The probe is reaching the point to where the team is looking for ways to involve Jonathan Kanter, the head of the DOJ’s antitrust division. As previous reports have said, Kanter represented opponents of Apple, including Spotify, Tile, Match, and Basecamp, prior to joining the DOJ.

Apple would easily be able to challenge this anticompetitive investigation probe based on obvious bias of Jonathan Kanter that is involved.

All Kanter would need to do is recuse himself from the investigation if the DoJ goes forward with it like he did in the investigation of Google.

DOJ antitrust chief recuses himself from the Google probe due to potential conflicts

The top antitrust official at the Justice Department was previously hired to lobby the government on Google's DoubleClick acquisition.

www.cnbc.com

Antitrust Chief Barred From Google Cases Amid Recusal Push

The Justice Department’s top antitrust official has been barred from working on monopoly investigations of Alphabet Inc.’s Google as the department wrestles with whether he must recuse himself because of his previous work for the search giant’s rivals, according to people familiar with the matter.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[JPack]

This is an investigation about anticompetitive practices that Apple might be identified with.

9to5 had this additional information.

The probe is reaching the point to where the team is looking for ways to involve Jonathan Kanter, the head of the DOJ’s antitrust division. As previous reports have said, Kanter represented opponents of Apple, including Spotify, Tile, Match, and Basecamp, prior to joining the DOJ.

Apple would easily be able to challenge this anticompetitive investigation probe based on obvious bias of Jonathan Kanter that is involved.

What? Of course not.

First, the Attorney General is not a judge presiding over the law.

And just because the Attorney General previously represented clients, doesn't mean they are biased. Otherwise, the more career experience a lawyer has, the less likely they would be appointed Attorney General. The president would have nominate someone right out of law school with zero experience.

 

[PlayUltimate]

It welcomes competition "on the App Store" not with.

But, IMO, this should go nowhere. Apple created this business from nothing using a new programming language to create applications. There are issues with the business model. Apple, however, created a business platform that did not previously exist for the small developers; the costs seem quite reasonable for what it provided. Note that it is the large developers that are doing most of the complaining.

This reminds me of a homeowner that got a great deal on house because it was next to the airport. And then starts to complain about airport noise.

 

[JPack]

All Kanter would need to do is recuse himself from the investigation if the DoJ goes forward with it like he did in the investigation of Google.

DOJ antitrust chief recuses himself from the Google probe due to potential conflicts

The top antitrust official at the Justice Department was previously hired to lobby the government on Google's DoubleClick acquisition.

www.cnbc.com

Antitrust Chief Barred From Google Cases Amid Recusal Push

The Justice Department’s top antitrust official has been barred from working on monopoly investigations of Alphabet Inc.’s Google as the department wrestles with whether he must recuse himself because of his previous work for the search giant’s rivals, according to people familiar with the matter.

www.bloomberg.com

Kanter was cleared as well.

WSJ News Exclusive | Google Critic Is Cleared to Work on U.S. Antitrust Matters Involving Search Giant

The Justice Department cleared its top antitrust official, Jonathan Kanter, to oversee cases and investigations involving the company.

www.wsj.com

 

[0924487]

The Berlin wall is falling

 

[I7guy]

This will be as successful as getting my local government to get cable competition into the town. Lot of hubris.

 

[PauloSera]

There are so many ways Apple could have avoided this. It's going to be infinitely worse for everyone once the government

 

[Scipster]

So once Apple opens the ecosystem in iOS 17 does this investigation go away? Or is there potential for liability until the statute of limitations on anti-trust behavior expire (~4 years from what I read)?

 

[turbineseaplane]

This is great to see

The USA needs to get back to enforcing anti-trust

We've lost so much innovation and progress, that we don't even know about, from allowing rampant consolidation and abuse of market position by mega corps.

 

[GeoStructural]

Apple should just pull out of the US market altogether. /s

---
I so love this, I can't wait for Apple to be forced to implement these changes.

 

[webkit]

Apple, however, created a business platform that did not previously exist for the small developers; the costs seem quite reasonable for what it provided. Note that it is the large developers that are doing most of the complaining. .

Not exactly. App stores existed before the iPhone (and iPod Touch) launched in 2007. Both Apple (with iOS and App Store) and Google (with Android and Google Play store) can be credited with helping to bring the mobile app market to where it is today.

Regardless, none of it means a company should be allowed to violate antitrust laws and engage in anticompetitive behavior. Microsoft created a lot of opportunities for hardware and software companies but that didn’t and doesn’t mean they are immune to antitrust laws and regulations.