In a lawsuit, the developer of competing app store Cydia accused Apple of illegally monopolizing the distribution of software for its iOS operating system with its own app store. Apple, on the other hand, claimed in court that Cydia developer Jay Freeman’s claims were time-barred – but the court has now dismissed that objection. This is Freeman’s second attempt to stand trial in court after the first failed attempt. Reuters reports.
“Technological Prevention” of Free Competition
On Thursday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the US District Court in Oakland, California, dismissed Apple’s claim that Cydia’s SolarKit allegations are outside the four-year deadline set by federal antitrust laws. Reuters report says, Freeman originally filed suit against Apple in 2020; It says, among other things, that the company prohibits and technically prohibits the free distribution of software for iPhones and iPads, which hinders competition. Cydia is an alternative app store that requires you to jailbreak an iOS device from Apple’s restrictions before you can use it.
Apple had already argued against the earlier lawsuit, stating, among other things, that Cydia only found iOS devices through unauthorized methods, such as jailbreaking. Free distribution was never allowed outside of Apple’s own App Store and the business decision for the App Store was more than ten years ago, meaning Cydia’s claim is time-constrained. Judge Gonzalez Rogers initially followed this argument and dismissed the trial in January of this year.
Second trial can be continued
However, in January 2022, the judge left open the opportunity to file a new lawsuit with revised charges, which Freeman did immediately. Freeman’s lawyers argued this time that Apple rolled out technology updates between 2018 and 2021, which “obviously” served to harm other app distributors like Cydia and lock them out of the only software platform allowed in iOS. Is.
In the second trial, the judge (Sourikit LLC v. Apple Inc., US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 4:20-CV-08733-YGR) followed this argument and ruled against Apple’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. . The claims thus claimed are not deemed to be barred by the court and the suit may be continued.
Freeman shut down its Cydia app store in 2018, and since then in-app purchases are no longer possible. However, the software can still be used as a package manager on jailbroken iOS devices. Other providers may also provide repositories with paid apps.
apple in criticism
Apple has been criticized for its restrictive App Store model and has had to defend itself against lawsuits in several court cases. The most famous case is the dispute with Epic Games. The company argues with the same technical limitations as Cydia that hinders competition. The appeals process began earlier this year, in an extensive legal battle between Epic Games and Apple. Furthermore, Apple tried to meet developers’ criticism with an out-of-court settlement; However, the concessions the company has made so far have been ridiculed and ridiculed.
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