Apple's loss in a high-stakes Supreme Court case on Monday could expose Silicon Valley to heightened antitrust oversight, threatening a slew of new lawsuits and other legal salvos that challenge the tech industry.
By Tony Romm and Tony Romm Staff writer covering technology policy Email Bio Follow Reed Albergotti Reed Albergotti Reporter covering consumer electronics Email Bio Follow May 13 at 6:36 PM Apple’s loss in a high-stakes Supreme Court case on Monday unsettled Silicon Valley, threatening a wave of new consumer lawsuits and other legal salvos that could challenge the size and power of the tech industry.
The ruling, in which conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined the court’s four liberal justices, also could open the door for similar actions against a wide array of other companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, all of which had urged the Supreme Court to side with the iPhone maker in legal briefs submitted by their top Washington advocates last year.
Apple long has argued it heavily curates its App Store in part to protect consumers from predatory, insecure or harmful software. Reacting to the decision, the company on Monday stressed it will “prevail when the facts are presented and that the App Store is not a monopoly by any metric.” But the Supreme Court on Monday rejected Apple’s interpretation. The ruling found the iPhone giant’s legal arguments sought only to"gerrymander Apple out of this and similar lawsuits,” wrote Kavanaugh, a conservative appointed by President Trump, on behalf of a majority of the justices. Speaking from the bench, he said Apple’s theory of the case “contradicts the text of the antitrust statute, which broadly affords any injured party a right to sue.
In a statement, Apple on Monday defended its practices. “We’re proud to have created the safest, most secure and trusted platform for customers and a great business opportunity for all developers around the world,” said spokesman Josh Rosenstock. “Developers set the price they want to charge for their app and Apple has no role in that. The vast majority of apps on the App Store are free and Apple gets nothing from them.
Theoretically, a company such as Amazon could also be a target, said Valarie C. Williams, an antitrust lawyer at the firm Alston & Bird who has represented companies including Microsoft and Nokia. “For some online marketplaces like Amazon, where consumers go online and pay Amazon but a seller is actually a third party, this seems to be [saying] those are direct purchases,” she added. Any case would hinge on whether Amazon actually acted anti-competitively, she said.
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