[HN Gopher] Apple cannot ban links to outside App Store payments...
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       Apple cannot ban links to outside App Store payments, U.S. appeals
       court
        
       Author : pseudolus
       Score  : 22 points
       Date   : 2023-04-24 21:29 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | usr1106 wrote:
       | I wonder why a US appeals court is needed for that decision.
       | 
       | This should be obvious to any laymen who has heard that antitrust
       | legislation exists.
        
         | dragonwriter wrote:
         | > I wonder why a US appeals court is needed for that decision.
         | 
         | Because it was an issue disputed in a US District Court case,
         | and someone disagreed with the outcome.
         | 
         | > This should be obvious to any laymen who has heard that
         | antitrust legislation exists.
         | 
         | The same decision (applying California unfair competition law
         | on the headline question) also found Apple was not violating
         | anti-trust law, so, your hypothetical layman would have come to
         | the right conclusion only by coincidence, on the wrong basis.
        
           | usr1106 wrote:
           | My comment was sarcastic. Of course the legal system works
           | like you describe.
           | 
           | The spirit of antitrust legislation is that competition
           | should not be harmed by one or few dominant players. I would
           | claim it is very clear that Apple (and Google) harm
           | competition in the mobile space. If this cannot be prevented
           | using the existing laws, new legislation is required.
           | Monopolies and duopolies are harmful.
        
         | crazygringo wrote:
         | You might discover that even laymen disagree with each other
         | far more often than you might think.
         | 
         | Most things that make it to court, and especially to appeals,
         | actually have important arguments on both sides. If it's in
         | court, it's pretty much by definition non-obvious.
        
           | usr1106 wrote:
           | So what is Apple's important argument? Hindering competition
           | increases our earnings? We know best what the customer wants?
        
       | nightski wrote:
       | It's really sad that money always wins and the future of
       | computing is a 30% tax from Silicon Valley behemoths. Congrats
       | everyone we did it.
        
         | stale2002 wrote:
         | Well, this is just one battle.
         | 
         | A "win" for Apple, in an individual battle, merely means that
         | the status quo remains unchanged. They have to win every
         | battle, to win the war.
         | 
         | And Apple is already losing very significant battles elsewhere.
         | 
         | For example, in the EU, with the soon to be in effect App Store
         | laws, Apple is being forced to allow sideloading, and won't be
         | able to charge the 300% fee, in the EU.
         | 
         | In the USA, maybe this court case fails. But there are more
         | court cases being brought against them, and also laws being
         | considered that could force Apple to change anyway, even if
         | they win the current court battles.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-24 23:01 UTC)