Uncle Sam vs Apple

Regulators around the world are coming for Apple. We take a look at the challenges it faces

-  CHARLOTTE HENRY 

Apple is no stranger to legal and regulatory challenges, but A things have gone up a gear recently. You can read about some of those issues, like the controversy around sideloading in #MF402, and other previous issues of MacFormat. Those actions were predominately based in the EU. Now, though, the US justice system has its sights on Cupertino.

On 21 March, the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division filed a case in New Jersey against Apple. The 88-page document starts by explaining that "for many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company's astronomical valuation."

It adds that Apple decided to "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."

Later, the document alleges that the company "wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive behavior." This comment is worth remembering as we explore the issue. It is the one most likely to rankle Apple leadership as it essentially boils down to an allegation of hypocrisy.

The fundamentals

In some ways, what the DOJ appears to dislike about Apple are the very characteristics that have become fundamental to the company. They are born out of its inception, from when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak first combined forces and the respective roles were taken up by the two men.

In his biography of Jobs, Walter Isaacson explains how the partnership developed, even from the early days: