ANTITRUST Posts on XDA

Open App Markets Act aims to regulate app stores, moves to U.S. Senate vote

Open App Markets Act aims to regulate app stores, moves to U.S. Senate vote

February 3, 2022
The conversation around app store monopolies has ramped up over the past few years, especially throughout Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple and Google over monetization and policies. Slowly but surely, legislators are working on their own solutions, and now one proposed law in the United States has reached a significant milestone: passing the Senate Judiciary...
NVIDIA might abandon ARM acquisition due to regulatory hurdles

NVIDIA might abandon ARM acquisition due to regulatory hurdles

January 25, 2022
While NVIDIA announced plans to acquire UK-based chip designer ARM all the way back in September 2020, the company hasn't managed to close the deal due to regulatory hurdles. Shortly after the announcement, several major companies, including Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Google, raised concerns about NVIDIA's acquisition of ARM, claiming that the deal would harm competition...
US Senate Committee passes antitrust bill that would regulate Big Tech’s self-preferencing

US Senate Committee passes antitrust bill that would regulate Big Tech’s self-preferencing

January 21, 2022
After prolonged discussion and debate, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Thursday passed the "American Innovation and Choice Online Act" (S.2992) antitrust bill. This bill aims to regulate Big Tech and other large companies from leveraging their dominant positions in one sector to self-preference their other products and services from other sectors. We've...
As antitrust legislation inches forward in the US, Apple and Google aren’t happy

As antitrust legislation inches forward in the US, Apple and Google aren’t happy

January 19, 2022
We're staring at a rather defining moment in smartphone history. The smartphone landscape, as it stands right now, is split between Apple and Google. Both adopt different approaches in how they handle their ecosystems, and through these starkly different approaches, both have undeniably grown to their biggest sizes in their own history. The past year...
Apple wants antitrust case in India to be dismissed, says it’s not a dominant player

Apple wants antitrust case in India to be dismissed, says it’s not a dominant player

December 20, 2021
Apple’s tightly controlled App Store and its proprietary in-app purchase system have come under fire in recent times, with the company facing antitrust probes in multiple countries, including the US, Europe, and South Korea. The Cupertino-based giant is facing a similar antitrust case in India over allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market...
Apple pushes back on letting developers inform users of alternative payment options for IAPs in Russia

Apple pushes back on letting developers inform users of alternative payment options for IAPs in Russia

December 6, 2021
Apple is no stranger to antitrust lawsuits at this point. The company has been sued by several entities for its monopolistic practices in the past few years. Most notably, the Cupertino-based corporation is criticized for its high App Store commission fees. That's in addition to the fact that developers aren't allowed to mention or link...
Amazon and Apple have been fined $225 million in the latest antitrust case

Amazon and Apple have been fined $225 million in the latest antitrust case

November 25, 2021
Apple has been dealing with antitrust lawsuits for a while now, and the latest is from Italy's antitrust authority. The watchdog has fined Amazon and Apple $225 million for kicking out select Apple product resellers from Amazon's platform. The agreement between the two tech giants goes back to 2018. It has forced certain retailers to...
Apple faces antitrust charges over NFC chip and App Store payment rules

Apple faces antitrust charges over NFC chip and App Store payment rules

October 8, 2021
In recent times, Apple has changed some of its policies and slowly opened up its walled garden. This change came after the company was hit with several antitrust lawsuits. iOS 14, for example, added support for assigning certain third-party default apps, such as email. iOS 15, unexpectedly, allows Android and Windows users to use FaceTime....
Apple will now ask iOS 15 users if they want to enable personalized ads in first party apps

Apple will now ask iOS 15 users if they want to enable personalized ads in first party apps

September 3, 2021
Apple has just added a prompt that asks iOS 15 users if they want to enable personalized ads in first-party apps. The company, which often boasts of its privacy-first approach and transparency, has kept that option on by default for users on older versions of iOS in a not-so-transparent manner. The prompt is related to a...
India opens antitrust investigation into Google over its smart TV dominance

India opens antitrust investigation into Google over its smart TV dominance

June 23, 2021
After reviewing a case filed by two lawyers against Google's anti-competitive practices in the smart TV segment, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has now ordered an investigation into the matter. While Google has denied any wrongdoing, the antitrust watchdog is "convinced that a case is made out for directing an investigation," based on its...
Apple can’t stop users from removing preinstalled apps under proposed antitrust bill

Apple can’t stop users from removing preinstalled apps under proposed antitrust bill

June 17, 2021
Last week, US lawmakers introduced five bipartisan antitrust bills targeted at Big Tech, namely Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. These proposed antitrust bills aim to impose new constraints on how the Silicon Valley giants operate, end their anti-competitive business practices and restrict acquisitions and mergers. Among the proposed bills is the American Innovation and Choice...
Google is expanding Android’s search engine choice screen in Europe

Google is expanding Android’s search engine choice screen in Europe

June 9, 2021
Google is bringing new updates to its Search engine selection screen that was introduced in Europe in 2019, as per directions by the European Union. Later this year, users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK will see up to 12 options for their preferred search engine for the pre-installed Google app and...