Lawyers for Epic Games and Apple today participated in a management conference with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez to hammer out the details of an upcoming bench trial, which is set to take place on May 3. Apple was aiming to get the trial delayed until a later date, but the judge denied the request and said […]
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Justice is investigating complaints from developers over Apple’s “Sign in with Apple” option, reports The Information. Introduced in iOS 13, Sign in with Apple is a privacy-focused login option that lets users opt to sign in to an app with their Apple ID, without the need to create a username or […]
Read MoreApple and Facebook have been in a very public spat over the course of the last few months as Apple dials up its pro-privacy stance. The two companies have long had tension, more recently however Facebook is taking shots at an upcoming iOS and iPadOS feature that will require apps and data companies such as […]
Read MoreThe United States Federal Trade Commission today teamed up 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Guam to sue Facebook for maintaining an illegal social networking monopoly through years of anticompetitive conduct. Facebook is accused of engaging in a “systematic strategy” to eliminate threats to its monopoly, which included the 2012 acquisition […]
Read MoreAn antitrust lawsuit leveled at Apple by Blix Inc. has been dismissed by a federal judge, in what appears to be a major setback for developers accusing Apple of malpractice with its App Store (via Bloomberg). BlueMail was removed from the Mac App Store in June 2019 after Apple found the app to be in […]
Read MoreApple has been slapped with a 10 million euro ($12 million) fine by Italy’s antitrust watchdog for unfair commercial practices related to its iPhone marketing in the country. Specifically, Apple is being charged for misleading claims in promotional messages about how deep and how long iPhones can be submerged in water without being damaged. In […]
Read MoreA number of industry players, including Spotify, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, and Basecamp CTO David Heinemeier Hansson, have today criticized Apple’s move to launch a new App Store Small Business Program that will halve App Store fees for small business owners and independent developers (via The Verge). After Apple announced the new program, Spotify […]
Read MoreThe United States Justice Department is targeting a lucrative deal between Apple and Google as part of one of the U.S. government’s largest antitrust cases, reports The New York Times. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the Mountain View-based company used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and […]
Read MoreThe United States Justice Department today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the Mountain View-based company has used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and advertising markets to maintain an unlawful monopoly. “Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives. Competition in this industry is vitally […]
Read MoreEU regulators are taking aim at up to 20 big tech companies, including Apple, as part of a “hit list” that seeks to curb their market influence, reports The Financial Times. The plans reportedly involve the demand that larger tech companies face tougher regulations than smaller competitors, data sharing with rivals, and increased transparency on […]
Read MoreAustralia is now investigating app store policies as part of yet another antitrust inquiry into Apple and Google (via Gizmodo). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will investigate the competition between the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store, access to platforms and consumers, fee structures, data collection, and price […]
Read MoreItaly’s antitrust regulator has today opened another inquiry into Apple for allegedly improper commercial practices with regards to cloud computing services (via Reuters). The investigation will also look into the practices of Google and Dropbox, in addition to Apple. The L’Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) did not release further information or state […]
Read MoreLast week, multiple startup companies in Korea called for an investigation into Apple and Google’s in-app purchase practices. Now, The Korea Herald has confirmed that the Korean Ministry of Science and ITC will launch an investigation to look into the two companies’ “excessive commissions.” The investigation will examine platform fees, payment systems, and whether Apple […]
Read MoreApple’s South Korea business has offered to make a 100 billion won ($84 million) payout to support small businesses and help consumers, according to the country’s competition watchdog (via Reuters). The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) investigated Apple Korea in 2016 for requiring SK Telecom, KT Corp, and LG Uplus Corp to pay the cost […]
Read MoreApple will use lawyers from Gibson Dunn, the same firm that spearheaded the second Apple v. Samsung action, in its bid to fend off a private antitrust suit leveled by Epic Games, according to software patent and litigation expert Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents. Last week, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store after Epic […]
Read MoreMultiple startup companies in Korea are calling for an investigation into Apple and Google’s in-app purchase practices, reports The Korea Herald. An alliance of app developers and small companies submitted a petition to the Korea Communications Commission earlier today, asking for an investigation into whether Apple and Google may be violating Korean laws on in-app […]
Read MoreApple is facing App Store scrutiny in Russia as the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) today said (via Interfax) that Apple abused its dominant App Store position and limited competition in the iOS app market by banning parental control apps. The FAS began investigating Apple’s App Store policies back in August 2019 after Apple cracked […]
Read MoreInternal Apple emails, made public by the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust inquiry, have revealed information about why Apple blocked in-app purchases of Kindle books on iOS devices, reports The Verge. Two sets of emails between Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and various other senior Apple executives, disclose the exact thinking behind how Apple approached […]
Read MoreApple offered Amazon lower App Store fees to convince it to launch its Prime Video app on the App Store and Apple TV, documents published by the U.S. antitrust subcommittee have revealed. According to email correspondence between Apple’s services chief Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple struck a deal to bring Amazon Prime […]
Read MoreApple offered Amazon lower App Store fees to convince it to launch its Prime Video app on the App Store and Apple TV, documents published by the U.S. antitrust subcommittee have revealed. According to email correspondence between Apple’s services chief Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple struck a deal to bring Amazon Prime […]
Read More
