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Ok, so this guy really has no clue about antitrust law, so why even write about "How Apple is Breaking The Law With The App Store"? According to Sherman's Act,
by DenisM 17y ago
Ok, so this guy really has no clue about antitrust law, so why even write about "How Apple is Breaking The Law With The App Store"?
According to Sherman's Act, restrain of trade is only illegal when it can serve to create or further a monopoly. You and I can agree to never deal with particular Joe Shmoe, but as long as Joe has plenty of other choices in his life it's ok.
The crucial point in defining monopoly is defining "the market". Apple is nowhere close to monopoly in cell phones, so it's not possible no nail them from restrain of trade in e.g. accessories using Sherman's act. Magnuson-Moss act is another story, though (the same act makes illegal for car manufacturer to void warranty if you use alien spare parts in repairing your car).
It gets a lot more interesting if you consider digital download music to be it's own market - a clear near-monopoly and any anti-competitive tactics will serve "to create or further a monopoly". Now would the court decide that "digital music download" is a separate market from "plain old music retailing"? This question is impossible to answer without litigation. Similarly, "application software for mobile phones" may or may not be a separate market from "plain old computer software". Apple is a near-monopoly in the first and a blip on the radar in the second. Another interesting area is "mobile internet access" - Apple is a near-monopoly in that "market" as well.
- eagleal 17y agoLook at this from this angle: I have an iPhone 3 or 4/iPad. I can't use any of the existing apps in the appstore to take my notes (my notes have a very specific and complex structure). I want to build an app that (tweaks) the OS so that I have the possibility of starting taking notes right from the home screen (with all the structure I require for them), or by vocal commands. I don't want to go from the appstore (I don't want to sell/distribute it) or buy a developer subscription, and I don't have a Mac platform to develop from. I want to use an industry standard (wide use on multiple-markets) and open language (not a commercial one). Can I built my app, on the device I just purchased? Under this definition, Apple is actually a monopoly (and they're not in the phone market, they're in the smartphone one). They lock me out of every process they take, and I'm their customer (and if a developer, a business customer). EDIT: As a response to those who claim that the antitrust case should apply to Wii/Xbox/PS/etc (and I'm okay with that, but): iPhone/iPad are computers/devices that enable personal productivity, and it's a different story since different uses are involved.
- eagleal 17y agoI was just trying to share my point of view (my opinion) of this whole situation. I'm failing to see why the down vote (maybe it was the radical redefinition of monopoly, but still it's just my opinion). EDIT: Consider instead of buying it (which involves choosing), that it was gifted to you.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- bobbyi 17y agoYou are arguing with a strawman. Nothing in the article mentioned the Sherman Act or said that Apple is a monopoly. If you think that the FTC and DOJ exist solely to enforce that one law, you are incorrect.
- DenisM 17y agoRestraint of trade (argument used in the article) is illegal pretty much only under Sherman's act, and even then only in set circumstances. I don't see how this argument can be about anything else other than Sherman's act.