Re: Justice Department files antitrust suit against Apple

On 2024-03-25 07:38:32 +0000, Mickey D said:

On Mon, 25 Mar 2024 18:28:56 +1300, Your Name wrote:

 The court will decide whether or not Apple has broken any laws, not Epic.

 Of course the court will decide (baring in mind that "the law is an
ass"), after a massive waste of tiem and money, and numerous appeals
and counter-appeals, but the whole thing was initiated by the whiners
at Epic, Google, Microsoft, etc. ... all of which do exactly the same
thing.

 It should be noted, whether or not the law is an ass, that Apple loses most
of these cases to the tune of billions of dollars, year after year.

Actually they don't. They lose a few, they win a few, they settle a few, and they continually appeal against a few. Like any other big business company that greedy scum keep taking to court for mostly idiotic reasons.

It's the same with the morons who whine on about Apple (and Google,
Microsoft, etc.) not paying enough local taxes, depsite the fact that
these companies already do pay all the taxes they are legally meant to.

 Google and Linux and Windows and even Apple's mac all allow apps to be
installed from anywhere the user wants to install those apps from.
 By contrast, the DOJ lawsuit alleges that Apple "illegally maintains its
dominance over the smartphone market by boxing out competing apps".
 The question for the courts is does Apple do exactly that, or not?

 That's two entirely separate "issues".
 Apple certainly does not "illegally maintains its dominance over the
smartphone market by boxing out competing apps" ... there are plenty of
other smartphones people can buy.

 That's like saying it doesn't matter that Volkswagen broke the laws simply
because there are plenty of other vehicles for consumers to choose from.

Apple has NOT broken any laws.
If this moronic new lawsuit stupidly decides they have, then you can kiss goodbye to ANY company ever being able to have protected products again, and many companies will simply not bother doing anything new or even shut the doors completely.

As for only being able to install apps from Apple's App Store, 99.9% of
users couldn't give a flying crap anyway. That's what makes Apple's
devices better in the first place, rather than having to put up with
all the malware and garbage-quality apps that infest Windows and
Android.

 While I'm sure there are "garbage-quality apps" that infest all other
operating systems, nobody who is sensible has ever believed what Apple says
is the reason they restrict there ecosystem to only the Apple app store.
 Even Apple has said you're not supposed to actually believe what they say.
https://www.wired.com/2008/12/apple-says-cust
 

Plus it's no different to only being able to buy the "secret recipe"
chicken from KFC, or the "secret recipe" drinks from Coca-Cola, among
billions of other such examples. Companies having their own
closely-guarded products and services  is how businesses work and have
done since businesses first began millennia ago.

 You mean like how Volkswagen kept their closely guarded secrets for years?
 

It's all just greedy braindeads in the local governments who have zero
understanding of anything at all, especially when it comes to tech.

 I'm not going to disagree that the government always wants to tax the
companies and individuals who make the most money - that's always the case.
 In this DOJ suit, the courts will have to decide if the DOJ is correct when
the DOJ claimed "Apple has maintained its power not because of its
superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behavior", or not.

 Which is a claim that is complete and utter nonsense.

 You've declared Apple didn't break any laws but the DOJ begs to differ.
At this point, what's left for us is to merely understand what each says.

The DOJ has zero understanding of business or tech. It's simply acting on the greedy whining of Epic and co. What Apple does is no different to any other big business.

The DOJ will allege that Apple broke the existing laws of the land.
Apple, in turn, will protest vehemently, much like Trump is doing today.
 The court will decide whether the DOJ or Apple's arguments are correct.

"The law is an ass" ... especially in western countries, and even more so with America's "sue 'em all" mentallity.