Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Alleging App Store Monopoly
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Apple that alleged the company had an illegal monopoly because the iPhone does not allow users to use alternative app stores.
Apple had requested that the suit be dismissed because Apple doesn't set the price for paid applications and because charging a price for distribution of products on a platform does not violate antitrust laws.
However, the suit was dismissed on a something of a technicality and can be refiled at a later date. Bloomberg reports:
The plaintiffs failed to prove “collective allegations that they have been deprived of lower cost alternatives, paid higher prices for Apple-approved applications, or had their iPhones disabled or destroyed,” [U.S. District Judge Yvonne] Gonzalez wrote. “At a minimum, plaintiffs must allege facts showing that each named plaintiff has personally suffered an injury-in-fact based on Apple’s alleged conduct.”
A lawyer for the plaintiffs told Bloomberg that they can refile with "no difficulty" and will argue that Apple has "cornered the distribution market for software for the iPhone".
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