Apple sucks
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2020 12:50 pm
House antitrust subcommittee agrees with Catt.
The House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust’s groundbreaking report on Big Tech said Apple has “monopoly power” over software distribution on iPhones, which allows it to generate large profits from the App Store and extract rents from developers.
The 450-page report from the Democratic majority is the culmination of a 16-month investigation that also examined competitive practices at Amazon, Facebook and Google and included the CEOs of the four giants testifying over videoconference in August.
The report, released Tuesday, recommends that dominant technology platforms, including Apple, be barred from entering “adjacent lines of business” and should not be allowed to give preference to their own services or products. But the report is also complimentary of Apple in some places: It also noted that Apple’s mobile ecosystem has produced significant benefits to consumers and app developers.
If these recommendations eventually become law, it could force big technology companies to change core business practices, including for Apple changing how it distributes its own apps through the App Store or which products or services it decides to develop.