Another day, another lawsuit. The Portuguese Consumer Protection Agency, Deco Proteste (via Marketeer) has issued a statement that it’s suing Apple for “programmed obsolescence” regarding the iPhone.
This isn’t the first such lawsuit filed against the tech giant. In January 2018 it was announced that Apple and Samsung were under investigation by Italy’s antitrust organization for alleged “planned obsolescence” of their products. A statement by the Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), which launched the investigation, cited consumer complaints of slower devices such as iPhones after operating system updates. The antitrust group will determine if the tech companies are introducing the updates intentionally to cripple phones, and force Italian citizens to buy new ones.
Also in January 2018, a French prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation of Apple over alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products following a complaint by a consumer organization. The investigation was led by French consumer fraud watchdog DGCCRF, part of the Economy Ministry.
Speaking of legal battles, the ongoing slugfest between Apple and Epic Games is swiftly approaching a trial. In a management conference audio stream, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wants to hold the trial in May, possibly as early as May. And possibly in person, instead of virtually.
This is all part of an ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic that has seen lawsuits — and counter lawsuits — filed in the U.S. UK, and Australia. On Aug. 13,2020, Epic Games announced that it had introduced a new direct payment option in the Fortnite app for iPhone and iPad, allowing players to purchase 1000 V-Bucks for US$7.99 rather than $9.99 through Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism. Shortly thereafter, Apple removed the gamer from the App Store for violating store polices and followed up by shutting down the company’s developer account. Epic immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
