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U.S. Department of Justice Likely to File Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple
MacRumors ^ | Monday October 25, 2021 | Juli Clover

Posted on 10/26/2021 11:32:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

The United States Department of Justice is accelerating its antitrust probe into Apple and there is increased likelihood that Apple will face an antitrust lawsuit, reports The Information.

Citing internal sources with knowledge of the investigation, The Information says there has been a "flurry" of activity as the DOJ has continued to question Apple, its customers, and its competitors about Apple's control over the iPhone. The DOJ sent new subpoenas to Apple's business partners over the summer, and has assigned more staff to the probe.

Specifics have yet to be nailed down, but The Information's sources believe that the investigation will lead to a lawsuit. Apple has been under investigation by the DOJ for two years now, and the probe is part of a broad investigation that has seen the Justice Department looking into Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

The DOJ has spoken with Apple critics that include Spotify, Match Group, Basecamp, and Tile, all companies unhappy with Apple's App Store policies and control.

Attorneys involved in the probe will eventually give the Department of Justice a recommendation on whether or not to file a lawsuit against Apple, but no formal recommendation has been made at this point in time, and there's still a possibility that no case will be filed as the investigation is ongoing.

(Excerpt) Read more at macrumors.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: amazon; apple; basecamp; china; doj; facebook; google; hunterbiden; iphone; lawfare; matchgroup; shakedown; spotify; tile
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To: rbg81
Heh, there are, but they are Korean (better, but still bad) and Chinese (and Hunter gets a cut).

21 posted on 10/26/2021 12:05:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Must have not paid the proper Baksheesh or did not remember to pass along 10% to “the big guy”
22 posted on 10/26/2021 12:16:15 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
― George Orwell, 1984

23 posted on 10/26/2021 12:29:23 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Anti trust against Apple but no anti trust against Google, Facebook and Amazon?
Just how much bribe is The Big Guy looking for in his 2024 elections campaign?


24 posted on 10/26/2021 12:30:12 PM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: SunkenCiv
Make "1984" fiction again.
25 posted on 10/26/2021 12:33:29 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (add a dab of lavender in milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing with it)
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To: SunkenCiv

Did Apple forget the 10% for the Big Guy?


26 posted on 10/26/2021 12:53:57 PM PDT by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
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To: monkeyshine

“issues like Sign in With Apple, App Tracking Transparency, and location tracking restrictions”

Sign In With Apple? lots of major players are providing their own “sign in with X” single sign-on service. Users have a choice. Almost funny how many “sign in with X” buttons are appearing on many authentication screens/pages.

App Tracking Transparency? yeah, letting users know who is gathering their data is a good thing.

Location tracking restrictions? actively keeping users’ locations private is hardly an antitrust or other DOJ issue.


27 posted on 10/26/2021 1:05:04 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (All worry about monsters that'll eat our face, but it's our job to ask WHY it wants to eat our face.)
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To: rlmorel
You sure you want to sic this DOJ on someone? Whose side are you on? "Compliant friend" is just as bad; I want DOJ to just leave Apple alone, and let their customers decide whether to associate with the company.
28 posted on 10/26/2021 1:07:39 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (All worry about monsters that'll eat our face, but it's our job to ask WHY it wants to eat our face.)
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To: ctdonath2

I’ve been a fan of Apple since I was 14 years old.
However, there is no question they are part of a market-restrictive oligopoly wrt cell phones.
But yeah, I wouldn’t trust this DOJ at all for anything.


29 posted on 10/26/2021 1:18:15 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: SmokingJoe
Anti trust against Apple but no anti trust against Google, Facebook and Amazon?

Because Google, Facebook and Amazon were all very active AGAINST Trump in 2020. Apple was more neutral (for values thereof) so it gets punished to bring it in line for 2022/24 elections! This is Democrats Operating Justice (DOJ)!

30 posted on 10/26/2021 1:34:19 PM PDT by SES1066 (Ask not what the LEFT can do for you, rather ask what the LEFT is doing to YOU!)
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To: ctdonath2

I think you misunderstand me… I would rather Apple be adversarial and stubborn against the DOJ, not a friend to them.


31 posted on 10/26/2021 1:43:12 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: SES1066

Pretty much.


32 posted on 10/26/2021 1:47:18 PM PDT by SmokingJoe ( )
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To: SunkenCiv; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; AbolishCSEU; Abundy; Action-America; acoulterfan; ...
Biden’s Democrat DOJ to bring AntiTrust suits against Apple because Apple controls its own iOS and iPhone products security? There can be no monopoly position on a company’s own products! — PING!


DOJ vs. APPLE for AntiTrust?
PING!

If you want on or off the Apple/Mac/iOS Ping List, Freepmail me.

33 posted on 10/26/2021 1:49:43 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Good! Bust up all of Big Tech.


34 posted on 10/26/2021 1:50:16 PM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: ctdonath2

Just to be clear-I would rather they had nothing to do with each other, and Apple would be free to do business, and the DOJ would mind their own business.

But if they are going to wrangle, I would rather Apple refuse to comply with whatever BS the DOJ is involved in, rather than collaborating with the DOJ and providing the DOJ with whatever they ask.

I don’t trust the DOJ for ANYTHING whatsoever.


35 posted on 10/26/2021 1:54:38 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Apple doesn't make political campaign contributions.

You’re right, Apple, Inc. does not make political donations. But the independent volunteer donation Apple Empoyees’ PAC does… and their donations go about 95% to Democrat and Progressive causes. Apple Inc. also makes large cash and in-kind donations to 501(c)3 organizations that are supposedly non-partisan but are actually Progressive, Liberal, and partisan as hell toward the Democrats and Left.

Apple “blind matches” (wink, wink) any employee donations into the AEPAC BEFORE the PAC determines which specific candidates, parties, measures, and causes get distributions from the PAC… as if that is not a foregone conclusion from past distribution history. This puts any corporate giving at arms length according to the law. It becomes employee contributions.

36 posted on 10/26/2021 2:01:39 PM PDT by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplophobe bigot!)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Or maybe for the first time. :^(


37 posted on 10/26/2021 2:04:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: FLT-bird

Like who, Huawei?


38 posted on 10/26/2021 2:05:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: ctdonath2
App Tracking Transparency? yeah, letting users know who is gathering their data is a good thing.

Location tracking restrictions? actively keeping users’ locations private is hardly an antitrust or other DOJ issue.

Those are good things and I use them. Those are not good things for DoJ when they subpoena application logs from cooperating software companies.

I wouldn't put it past DoJ to shake down Apple for a backdoor into IOS.

39 posted on 10/26/2021 2:13:48 PM PDT by IndispensableDestiny
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To: Swordmaker
Well, to be fair, Apple is top-to-bottom Demagogic Party.

40 posted on 10/26/2021 2:15:03 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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