Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers are in the early stages of drafting a potential antitrust complaint against Apple, reports Politico. I don’t think it will happen.
The department’s antitrust division hopes to file suit by the end of the year, the article adds. However, Politico hedges its bets by saying the Justice Department has made no decisions whether or when to sue Apple — and it’s still possible no case will be filed.
The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) says no lawsuit will be filed. For one thing, a declining share of Americans favor more government regulation of major technology companies, according to a May Pew Research Center survey.
Overall, 44% of Americans think major technology companies should be regulated more than they are now, down from 56% in April 2021. Conversely, the share of Americans who say they want less government regulation of major technology companies has roughly doubled, from about one-in-ten (9%) in previous years to one-in-five today.
What’s more, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which includes Apple, says there’s no support for the antitrust bill before the U.S. Congress.
The CIAA is an international non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, DC that represents the information and communications technology industries. Members include Apple, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Intel, Intuit, Samsung, and more.
The CCIA reserved $8.4 million worth of TV ads in March and April and another $200,000 in digital ads, according to data from AdImpact. The ads are designed to drive public opinion against the American Innovation and Choice Online (AICO) Act, a bipartisan bill.
“With broken supply chains and lives disrupted, businesses like Amazon have invested to deliver on time for you and help hundreds of thousands of small businesses gain access to millions of online shoppers,” says one CCIA ad. “But Washington politicians have a law that could break Prime’s guaranteed two-day free delivery and threaten our fragile economic recovery. Tell your senators: Don’t break our Prime.”
According to CNBC, the bill’s champions say the reform is necessary to rebalance the power in digital markets and allow newer innovators to thrive. But critics, including the tech companies, have argued the bill would worsen the consumer experience by potentially weakening security standards and the platforms’ ability to kick harmful products off their marketplaces. Klobuchar and other backers of the bill have denied that’s the case.
