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U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

reuters.com

11–20 of 258 posts

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#11
post #4

I don't understand why Apple isn't getting slapped for only allowing Safari-based browsers in the App Store. I don't understand anti-trust laws that well, but didn't Microsoft settle out of a very similar case related to bundling Media Player and IE with Windows?

I just downloaded Firefox and Chrome from App Store. Do I miss something?

Those are both Safari based on iOS. Specifically, they can't use their real rendering engine - they have to use the safari one.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#12
post #8
post #4

I don't understand why Apple isn't getting slapped for only allowing Safari-based browsers in the App Store. I don't understand anti-trust laws that well, but didn't Microsoft settle out of a very similar case related to bundling Media Player and IE with Windows?

Chrome is available on the App Store

And is Safari based on iOS

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#13

Here’s what I don’t get: in what sense is this a monopoly? Consumers have knowledge that the App Store is the only game in town on an iPhone, and they have the option to buy a different phone if they don’t want to use the App Store. That’s like saying that the manufacturer of my vacuum has a monopoly on vacuum bags.

but don't they? i think a more apt analogy would be your trash can manufacturer having a monopoly on trash bags. You shouldn't really expect that to be the case at all.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#14
post #6

Isn't the premise of this case, that Apple's "monopoly" on the app store and 30% toll on developers is effectively jacking up app prices for consumers, pretty hard to support with evidence? My impression is that the modern app store coincides with (if it didn't actually cause , which is possible as well) an industry-historic decline in software prices for consumers. Things we pay $0.99 today for used to cost $50.

$0.99 or free with all the important features a $19.99 in app purchase each.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#15
post #4

I don't understand why Apple isn't getting slapped for only allowing Safari-based browsers in the App Store. I don't understand anti-trust laws that well, but didn't Microsoft settle out of a very similar case related to bundling Media Player and IE with Windows?

I just downloaded Firefox and Chrome from App Store. Do I miss something?

No PWAs

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#16
post #2

> Developers “cannot risk the possibility of Apple removing them from the App Store if they bring suit,” the American Antitrust Institute advocacy group said in a brief. To my untrained IANAL eyes, this seems to be the meat of the argument. Apple is trying to say they are just an agent facilitating a sale, all the while jingling the kingdom keys in their back pocket by controlling who gets to sell. They are seeking t…

"Apple said it is acting only as the agent for app developers who sell the apps to consumers through the App Store."

Sure, an agent who just so happens to control the platform, the API's and building blocks, all the rules, the horizontal, the vertical, and unilaterally decides which apps are allowed to exist. But, "we're just an agent".

I'm not familiar enough with the case to form an opinion on the whole thing, but I do hope the court sees through that particular sham of an argument.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#17

Here’s what I don’t get: in what sense is this a monopoly? Consumers have knowledge that the App Store is the only game in town on an iPhone, and they have the option to buy a different phone if they don’t want to use the App Store. That’s like saying that the manufacturer of my vacuum has a monopoly on vacuum bags.

Yes, pretty much. Except vacuum cleaner manufacturers don't actually have that monopoly. You can easily buy substitute bags from another manufacturer for most popular vacuum cleaners.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#18
post #13

Here’s what I don’t get: in what sense is this a monopoly? Consumers have knowledge that the App Store is the only game in town on an iPhone, and they have the option to buy a different phone if they don’t want to use the App Store. That’s like saying that the manufacturer of my vacuum has a monopoly on vacuum bags.

but don't they? i think a more apt analogy would be your trash can manufacturer having a monopoly on trash bags. You shouldn't really expect that to be the case at all.

Why is that more apt? Why shouldn’t I expect it? Apple didn’t even invent the walled-garden digital software store; Microsoft was using it on the X-Box in 2005. If you go back to before digital distribution, Sony and Nintendo had total authority over third-party software releases for their platforms since the 90s and 80s respectively.

I understand the free-software arguments for why I should be able to run arbitrary code on any computer I own. What I don’t get is the monopoly argument.

Re: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Apple App Store antitrust dispute

#20

Here’s what I don’t get: in what sense is this a monopoly? Consumers have knowledge that the App Store is the only game in town on an iPhone, and they have the option to buy a different phone if they don’t want to use the App Store. That’s like saying that the manufacturer of my vacuum has a monopoly on vacuum bags.

Read it again - it's about the monopoly on App Store.

It's like buying a car and only able to use gas sold by that company.

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