US v. Apple: everything you need to know

The statement from Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz in response to the antitrust lawsuit announced this morning:

At Apple, we innovate every day to make technology people love—designing products that work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users. This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.

If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology. We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it.

Kanter said the lawsuit explains “the illegal and exclusionary conduct that Apple has engaged in is not necessary to protect security and privacy.” To the contrary, “in many instances, Apple’s conduct has made its ecosystem less private and less secure.”

“When you have an institution with a lot of resources, that in our view is harming the American economy and the American people, it’s important for us to allocate our resources to protect the American people,” Garland said. “And that is certainly the case where individual Americans have no ability to protect themselves.”

“Apple has long relied on contractual restrictions rather than competition on the merits to fortify its monopoly power,” Kanter said. He pointed to emails between an Apple executive and then-CEO Steve Jobs in 2010, lamenting a Kindle ad where a user switches seamlessly between the Kindle app on an iPhone and an Android.

Apple was a “significant beneficiary” of the DOJ’s suit against Microsoft more than 20 years ago, said Jonathan Kanter, assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division. “The remedy paved the way for Apple to launch iTunes, iPod and eventually the iPhone.”

He described the new suit as a way “to protect competition and innovation for the next generation of technology.”

I reread this massive Wired piece this morning on the train, a propos of, you know, things. It’s an incredible tale of antitrust warfare, and it’s wild how much of what the DOJ said and did about Microsoft rhymes with today’s lawsuit against Apple.

I’d bet that Tim Cook saying “buy your mom an iPhone” will become an iconic legal phrase the way “cut off Netscape’s air supply” did 25 years ago.

The new complaint “alleges that Apple has engaged in many of the same tactics that Microsoft used,” Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said, referencing the DOJ’s landmark antitrust case at the turn of the century.

Apple has “smothered an entire industry” by shifting from “revolutionizing the smartphone market to stalling its advancement,” according to Lisa Monaco.

Garland described how Apple “inserts itself into the process” of transactions through its digital wallets, when consumers may “prefer to share that information solely with their bank.”

“That is just one way in which Apple is willing to make the iPhone less secure and less private, in order to maintain its monopoly power,” Garland said.

The AG says it’s not just that the green texts between Android and iPhone devices are annoying, there’s also “limited functionality.”

“Videos are pixelated and grainy, and users cannot edit messages or see typing indicators,” Garland said.

“Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law,” Garland said.

He also referenced the so-called Apple tax that the company charges for in-app purchases.

The Department of Justice’s website doesn’t say which company this antitrust announcement livestreaming will be about, but there are signs that point to Apple.

We’ll have all the updates for you right here as soon as they’re available. (Update: And as of 10:30AM ET, now they are — the stream is still scheduled for 11AM.)

The New York Times reported in January that the DOJ was nearing the end of an investigation into Apple’s locked-down ecosystem. Now, Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, says the agency is preparing for the next step:

The Justice Department is poised to sue Apple Inc. as soon as Thursday, accusing the world’s second most valuable tech company of violating antitrust laws by blocking rivals from accessing hardware and software features of its iPhone.