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Apple won’t take the antitrust case sitting down. Image source: Apple
As Apple’s antitrust case goes forward, the company has responded to each of the 236 paragraphs from the original complaint to defend itself, stating plainly that the “DOJ is wrong.”
The Department of Justice, along with multiple states accused Apple, of monopolistic practices over the App Store, iPhone, and other parts of its business. One year later, after failed attempt to have the case dismissed, Apple has filed its direct response to the antitrust lawsuit.
The filing from Apple opens with the assertion that the lawsuit “threatens the very principles that set iPhone apart in a fiercely competitive market.” Apple asserts that the complaints that led to the lawsuit come from a small number of rich and powerful third-party developers free-riding on the innovations presented by iPhone.
It is a heated rebuttal that hits at the core of the lawsuit, which AppleInsider has pointed out repeatedly is moot. Most of the DOJ’s accusations either were never true or have been remedied in recent updates.
Apple shared, once again, the five main points made by the DOJ lawsuit.
- DOJ says Apple stifles the success of “super apps,” despite the fact that Apple’s rules allow and support such apps, and indeed a multitude of “super apps” exist on the App Store today
- DOJ says Apple blocks cloud streaming games, even though Apple allows streaming-games both over the web and in the App Store where they can stream games directly to users
- DOJ says Apple degrades third-party messaging apps, even though they are widely available and enormously popular on iPhone already
- DOJ says Apple limits the functionality of third-party smartwatches, even though they can effectively pair with iPhone, share data to and from the iPhone via a companion app, and take advantage of certain functionalities Apple has developed which are expanding over time
- DOJ says Apple withholds access to iPhone hardware necessary for third-party digital wallets to use tap-to-pay technology, however, Apple developed and provides a mechanism that protects user
Apple’s response goes paragraph by paragraph to take apart the DOJ arguments. There are 236 paragraphs total, and Apple doesn’t hold back.
Apple’s nine main defenses also take a strong stance. It argues that Apple has legitimate business justifications, protected intellectual property rights, the courts have a lack of standing, no proof of injury, find the arguments moot, that the plaintiffs have no entitlement to relief, that there’s no harm to competition or consumers, and cites the doctrine of laches (the claim was made with unreasonable delay).
It’s going to be a long and brutal case that may take years to shake out. Apple is going to push back hard against opening up its platforms to third-parties and potential privacy and security violations, so expect things to go as roughly as they have with the EU Digital Markets Act.
