William Gallagher
Attorneys general for 34 states and the District of Columbia have told an appeals court that Apple continues to "stifle competition" with its monopoly on app distribution via the App Store.
The Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit saw a ruling in 2021 that chiefly sided with Apple, but the appeals process is continuing. Now the 35 attorneys general have submitted a joint statement into the appeal, backing Epic.
According to Reuters, the joint letter was led by the state of Utah, and joined by Colorado, Indiana, Texas, and more.
"Apple's conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app-developers and millions of citizens," the states said. "Meanwhile, Apple continues to monopolize app distribution and in-app payment solutions for iPhones, stifle competition, and amass supracompetitive profits within the almost trillion-dollar-a-year smartphone industry."
The United States Department of Justice has also filed a letter. Notably, it's not signed by Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general. Kanter used to be the lead attorney for the Coalition for App Fairness.
Alongside the attorneys general, Reuters reports that activist groups and academics have been filing legal arguments in support of the developer of "Fortnite."
Key to the states' argument is that the court decided that Apple's non-negotiable contracts with developers were not covered by antitrust law. Epic Games itself made similar claims when it began filing its appeal on January 20, 2022.
"Paradoxically, firms with enough market power to unilaterally impose contracts would be protected from antitrust scrutiny," continued the attorneys general letter, "precisely the firms whose activities give the most cause for antitrust concern."
Apple is expected to respond to the appeal in March.
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78 Comments
In 1997, when Michael Dell infamously said Apple should be shut down, and the money given to the shareholders, the company was not only on its deathbed, but also completely irrelevant and superfluous. Who needed a Mac with a PowerPC when the ENTIRE WORLD ran on Windows 95 and Intel? What would you have said back then had I told you that, 25 years later, Apple would be the biggest and most profitable company in the world? So much so that 34 states would want to regulate it as a monopoly lol?!
List all the states so people can contact their representatives. Actually do something about this BS.
Or go on your state gov website and look at pending legislation!
„harm citizens”?? Get an Android phone! Nobody forces anyone to have an iPhone.
I have to say it—I think the primary motivation for this weird AG political fixation on the App Store is corruption and greed, pure and simple. The 0-30% App store commission is not on par with the corporate abuses of cigarette smoking or narcotic abuse so what gives?
Outside of a few developers, Apple haters and Epic fanboys most Americans are concerned about other issues in the technology world, like-
internet and telephone spam
misinformation
malware
privacy violations
database hacksHey politicians and AGs why don’t you do something useful, like criminalize and go after companies that leave databases of customer personal information unsecured and get hacked?
Or engage in privacy violations?
Or maybe just violent crime?
Yeah I guess that would involve real work.
Make these AGs wear sponsorship patches like nascar drivers. It shows how out of touch they are with A what’s actually going on, and be what most people actually want. Personally, I bought the iPhone because it is more secure. I trust apple with my payment info. I don’t want to give my credit card info to every or even a few companies who I use their apps. Let’s be honest, Epic Games is pushing this BS because they want to profit more from kids poor impulse control, getting them to buy loot crates and garbage like that. So many of my friends kids had gift card for Fortnite, then several months later, regretted spending so much in the game. They want to spread the billing out over many sources so it’s harder for parents to track, and also easier to hack. No thank you.