U.S. Department of Justice escalates Apple antitrust probe

The United States Department of Justice has ramped up work in recent months on drafting a potential antitrust complaint against Apple, The Wall Street Journal reports citing “people familiar with the matter.”

Aaron Tilley, Dave Michaels, and Keach Hage for The Wall Street Journal:

The Justice Department’s investigation deals in part with Apple’s policies governing mobile third-party software on its devices, which has been the focus of much of the criticism targeting Apple’s competitive practices. The department is also looking at whether Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, operates in an anticompetitive way by favoring its own products over those of outside developers, the people said.

One question mark around the department’s Apple investigation has been the involvement of its top antitrust official, Jonathan Kanter. The agency initially sidelined Mr. Kanter, who was confirmed in November 2021 as assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division, from overseeing the Apple case because of his prior representation of clients who have accused Apple of anticompetitive behavior, the people said.

The department subsequently has studied whether Mr. Kanter could be allowed to oversee the investigation and any lawsuit against Apple, the people said. The status of that process couldn’t be learned, but the people said he likely would be involved in any action against Apple.

MacDailyNews Take: So, in other words: With Jonathan Kanter involved, this sham will be biased and rigged against Apple from the outset.

If he had any ethics, Kanter would already have recused himself and not participate in any aspect of any antitrust case case against Apple, should it be brought. Instead, the Attorney General’s office will claim to “investigate” and subsequently “clear” Kanter to participate.

With Kanter involved, any action brought against Apple has a foregone conclusion and should therefore be considered a sham.

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