Friday, August 26, 2022 2:39 pmFriday, August 26, 20223 Comments

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In a sign that a long-running investigation may be nearing a decision point and a suit could be coming soon, the U.S. Department of Justice is in the early stages of drafting a potential antitrust complaint against Apple, Politico reports Friday, citing “a person with direct knowledge of the matter.”

John Sisco for Politico:

Various groups of prosecutors inside DOJ are assembling the pieces for a potential lawsuit, the individual said, adding that the department’s antitrust division hopes to file suit by the end of the year.

Still, the Justice Department has made no decisions whether or when to sue Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, cautioned that person and one other familiar with the probe — and it’s still possible no case will be filed.

The Justice Department has been investigating Apple since 2019 over allegations that it abused its market power to stifle smaller tech companies, including app developers and competing hardware makers. As the investigation has progressed, a suit has become increasingly likely, but the move to drafting sections of the suit is a significant step forward in the process.

To date, much of the attention on a potential Justice Department case against Apple has focused on its App Store, the only way for users to download applications on iPhones and iPads. But… Prosecutors are also homing in on whether and how Apple’s control over its physical devices harms competitors beyond app developers. DOJ is focused heavily on public complaints leveled by Tile, a maker of devices and technology used to find lost items… Tile has been public about its complaints, testifying in congressional hearings that Apple has made it more difficult for the company’s devices to access needed location data, and restricted access to key hardware components in its phones.

MacDailyNews Take: If the market is smartphones, Apple does not have a monopoly in smartphones. If you don’t like Apple’s iPhone, buy another phone.

If the market is smartphone operating systems, Apple does not have a monopoly in smartphone operating systems. If you don’t like Apple’s iOS, buy an Android phone.

If the market is App Stores, Apple does not have a monopoly in App Stores. If you don’t like Apple’s App Store, use an Android app store like Google Play.

No monopoly in any case means that antitrust law, when properly adjudicated, does not apply.

I don’t think anybody reasonable is going to come to the conclusion that Apple is a monopoly. Our share is much more modest. We don’t have a dominant position in any market… We are not a monopoly. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, June 2019

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