Washington – The Supreme Court ruled today that Apple users may file a class action lawsuit against the company for the control it imposes on all sales recorded by the applications of its mobile platform, present in the iPhone and iPad products.
This ruling gives consumers in the country the possibility to denounce corporations for competitive practices in the market for the first time.
The conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh distanced himself from the opinion of his conservative colleagues and thanks to his vote the consumer complaint against Apple may prosper.
A group of users filed a class action lawsuit in 2011 against Apple for alleged monopoly practices exercised in its operating system.
The plaintiffs accused Apple of violating federal laws against monopoly by requiring that applications for their phones can only be sold through their own store, App Store, with the consequent price increase.
The computer giant takes a commission of 30% of all these purchases and passes the cost to its users.
Apple asked the Supreme Court last year to dismiss the lawsuit filed for alleged monopolistic use in the sale of the applications.
According to Apple’s position, consumers should take legal action against computer applications and developments but not against the technology company.
The complaint was filed in 2011, but a judge in Oakland (California) dismissed it after considering that consumers are not direct buyers, since the transaction was made through the application developers.
However, in 2017, an appeals court agreed with the plaintiffs because it considered that the company was the direct seller of the applications.
As a result, the Supreme Court had to review whether its ruling of 1977 is applicable in which it determined that the damages for monopolistic behaviors apply only to those who directly face the surcharge, in this case the developers, and not to third parties, such as consumers. end, which assume this excess through others.
With their last decision, the judges allow the case to be tried by the courts. (EFEUSA)
