An antitrust case against Apple that has been ongoing in various forms for 12 years has finally been approved by a federal judge, allowing it to obtain class action status. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers refused to designate the lawsuit as a class action in 2022, but after narrowing the scope of the lawsuit, the lawsuit gained class action status.
The lawsuit focuses on Apple's alleged monopoly on iPhone apps and Apple's rules that prevent third-party app stores from existing and purchases outside the App Store. It is said that these regulations allow Apple to control a monopoly position, limit consumer choice, and thus keep prices rising.
The change that allowed Judge Gonzalez-Rogers to designate the lawsuit as a class action was the number of Apple account holders affected, Reuters reported. The class action lawsuit now represents account holders who spent $10 or more on the app and in-app content.
The judge remains concerned that more than 10 million accounts in the newly narrowed class may be unscathed. However, Rogers added that the number of accounts could be reduced further and that there was no specific "cut-off date" for denial of certification at all.
At the same meeting, Gonzalez rejected Apple's request to prevent two expert witnesses from testifying about potential harm to customers. The testimony included comments from Nobel laureate Daniel McFadden, which Apple deemed unreliable.
Mark Rifkin, a lawyer representing consumers, was "extremely pleased" with the decision and the start of the next phase of this 12-year legal ordeal. Rifkin believes that Apple may have to bear "billions of dollars in losses."
Regardless of the final outcome of the case, the rules for Apple being attacked by lawsuits have already changed elsewhere in the world. With the introduction of the EU Digital Markets Act, Apple has had to make changes to allow the existence of third-party app stores and third-party payment processing.