United States v. Apple – Stratechery by Ben Thompson

Thompson providing context and a breakdown of the case the Department of Justice has brought against Apple. Nearly everyone that has asked me about this goes to the App Store and the issues around it. As Thompson highlights though, this case isn't about the App Store.

Here is the most important thing to understand about this entire App Store discussion — the topic that has many people who are normally skeptical of government involvement in tech cheering on the Department of Justice: basically none of it is pertinent to this case. Oh sure, the initial case filing aired all of these grievances — along with a bizarre and factually wrong assertion that iTunes was only ever on Windows because of a DOJ Consent Decree — but the actual assertions of wrongdoing barely mention the App Store at all.

There are five points of this filing.

• Supressing Super apps
• Supressing cloud streaming game apps
• Prohibiting third-party apps from sending or receiving carrier-based messages
• Suppressing key functions of third-party smartwatches
• Denied users access to digital wallets

These are the areas of focus. Thompson goes through each one with some great context. If you are curious about this topic it is worth a read.