topic Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮 in Community Chat

😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Mz iMac — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:21:30 GMT

DOJ Alleges Smartphone Monopoly ... You're Gatekeeping It All!!!

3/21/2024 8:11 AM PT

Uncle Sam is taking Apple to court -- claiming they have a monopoly on the smartphone business and that the interconnected nature of their products is a little too anti-competitive.

The Dept. of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against Tim Cook's company Thursday, which makes a lot of allegations against the tech giant ... including that their whole business model is inherently gatekeeping, and has a stranglehold on the industry.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the ecosystem of all things Apple -- including the iPhone, their Apple Watch and other apps and features connected to Apple's mainframe -- has created a "moat" that's unfairly shutting out rival companies and their own customers.

The lawsuit states, "For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone."

The feds add ... "Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives. It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets, among many others."

In addition to their products -- which the feds allege are created to work only within Apple's system -- the suit claims Apple has gone out of its way to shut down apps/programs people have attempted to use to make communicating on iPhones easier with non-iPhone products. Essentially, they're alleging Apple has made it impossible to interact with Apple products/users if you're not also using an Apple product ... and they say that violates federal law.

The lawsuit also says this ... "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly ... This anticompetitive behavior is designed to maintain Apple’s monopoly power while extracting as much revenue as possible."

Apple has a massive market cap -- with a valuation of $2.68 trillion, one of the largest on the map.

SOURCE: TMZ website

I had to laugh at the DOJ using the play on words "gatekeeping." It's what Apple calls their "security settings" in regards to downloading their own products vs 3rd party......

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

SandySparkles — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:25:11 GMT

I find this all QUITE interesting...🤔 Why am I not surprised?😁

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Kachina624 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:28:15 GMT

@Mz iMac. I wonder what took them so long? They are not, however, the only smartphones on the market. There are tons of other brands, I've had Samsung and Moto.

I'd love to have an Apple Watch but you must have an IPhone to set it up and use it so must buy two expensive devices. That's my objection.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Mz iMac — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:31:17 GMT

As this has been Apple's policy since day 1 w/all of their products, why did the DOJ wait so long?

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

10sluvr — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:39:40 GMT

there are many more for him to sue. Hope he wins!

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

cheriere — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:41:31 GMT

@Mz iMac Interesting indeed. I must admit though, where I live out in the country and away from cell service, I can always text or FaceTime with my friends and family who also have an iPhone. I wish I were able to also do this with those who have Androids too.💝

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Snowpuppy — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:48:36 GMT

Gosh, I sure hope this doesn't impact my ability to use my flip phone.

😉

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Mz iMac — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:50:05 GMT

@cheriere wrote:
I wish I were able to also do this with those who have Androids too.💝

@cheriere Download the ZOOM app for Mac. You will be able to ZOOM/Facetime w/the Androids users.

Very few of my family members are Apple users.

FREE Download zoom.us/download?os=mac

App Store wants $4.99.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Icegoddess — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:04:27 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
@Mz iMac. I wonder what took them so long? They are not, however, the only smartphones on the market. There are tons of other brands, I've had Samsung and Moto.

I'd love to have an Apple Watch but you must have an IPhone to set it up and use it so must buy two expensive devices. That's my objection.

@Kachina624 I, too, have owned a Moto and a Samsung. I currently have a Samsung phone and a Samsung tablet. I use a Fitbit. And I have 3 Mac laptops, 2 of which I regularly use.

Plus, I can transfer pics from my android devices to my Mac using and app called Airdroid. That's really all the interconnectivity I need.

The thing that bothered me about Apple was that I heard they required that any App to be allowed to be on their app store not also be available in an Android version. That's just wrong, IMO.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Sooner — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:05:04 GMT

Apple product are great and are of course interactive. Hope the Govt. doesn't foul this up for happy Apple users. Like the Govt. does so many other stupid things.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Goldengate8361 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:05:41 GMT

I love Apple, but I think the DOJ is kind of right.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

goldensrbest — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:07:24 GMT

Isn't it up to people what phone they buy?

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Mz iMac — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:21:06 GMT

@goldensrbest Per the DOJ.......

“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law,”

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Laura14 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:21:38 GMT

Go DOJ! It's about time! 👏

I can not tell you the problems this has caused between my family, employer, and I. Some of us can not afford or refuse to pay Apple prices for extras we do not need. I have an Android phone with triple the storage for a third of their iPhone price.

Received free Apple Fitness through my health insurance. Can't use it without an iPhone.

And I also get punished by not being able to communicate from time to time with friends and family and coworkers who get mad at me for not having an iPhone like Apple's issues are my fault.

The texting constantly goes down and I get accused of not replying to texts that I never got because the two operating systems refuse to properly connect with one another.

It's about time our government acted like a government and at least requires that companies provide the basics to everyone. Have your bells and whistles, but require all basic operations for everyone so we don't continue to have a built in haves and have nots.

There's fair competition and then there is greed and monopoly. Companies used to stay on top through innovation and attracting, not attacking, the consumers. Let's get back to that.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Carmie — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:40:18 GMT

So much for free enterprise we used to enjoy.

Our government is trying to control our gas stoves, our vehicles wanting electric only... with batteries that catch fire and burn down our house when parked in the garage and now our electronics devices.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Sooner — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:45:17 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
Isn't it up to people what phone they buy?

@goldensrbest Absolutely! Nothing else out there is like Apple. But there are lots of choices so I don't see the problem here.

Aren't there better things for DOJ to go after than Apple? Really?

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

SaveTheTurtles — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 19:54:29 GMT

Interesting. Still love all Apple products, though.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

patbz — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 20:00:01 GMT

So overdue! We are a Samsung/Amazon family and I realized "the fix was in" last year when I couldn't even get a charging cable for my Samsung at Costco ( they sell the phones and yes, I know that now they use the same input) because they didn't carry it ( but they had several choices for Apple).

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

teganslaw — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 20:06:55 GMT

This might be settled out of court. I don't use Apple devices, but I think the DOJ has a case. About time someone held Apple responsible for their monopoly.

Re: 😲 DOJ has filed suit against Apple! 😮

Kachina624 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 20:17:54 GMT

@cheriere wrote:
@Mz iMac Interesting indeed. I must admit though, where I live out in the country and away from cell service, I can always text or FaceTime with my friends and family who also have an iPhone. I wish I were able to also do this with those who have Androids too.💝

@cheriere. Why can't you?