We’ve heard a lot recently about how the EU commission has been cracking down on big tech companies like Apple, with the Digital Markets Act causing sweeping changes to how the iPhone works, at least in the EU.
But stateside, Apple is also facing regulatory pressure. Bloomberg reports today that the Department of Justice is readying a formal lawsuit against Apple to be filed as soon as tomorrow. The suit will claim Apple broke antitrust laws by restricting access to iPhone software and hardware features.
The claims of the suit have not yet been released, but are expected to revolve around the monopolistic power of the iOS App Store.
In the EU, Apple has been forced to open up the iPhone to support alternative app marketplaces, alternative payment systems, alternative web browser engines, and give developers deeper access to hardware features like the NFC chip. This was necessary to meet compliance with the just-introduced Digital Markets Act. (It’s unclear if the US will demand similar changes.)
Separately, for infractions around App Store anti-steering provisions impacting the music streaming market, Apple was recently fined $2bn by the EU commission. Apple is in the process of appealing the decision.
