On Monday, the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States had appeared open so as to let the lawsuit filed against Apple Inc proceed. The lawsuit accuses the company of breaking the antitrust laws of the federal.
According to the lawsuit, the company monopolized the iPhone markets software application thereby gaining the power over the customers and making customers overpay for their products.
The appeal by the Cupertino was heard by a panel of nine justices. Cupertino is a technology company which is California based.
The appeal by the company was to argue against the decisions of the lower court to revive the class action suit which was proposed.
The case has been filed in the Federal Court in California in 2011. The complaint was filed by a group of iPhone users who were seeking monetary damages from the company.
According to the lawsuit the company violated the antitrust laws of the federal by restricting the selling of the applications only via the App Store of the company and then it charged a 30 percent commission from the purchases which were made.
The case might hinge on hoe the panel applies the past decisions of the court to the claims that were made against Apple.
The administration of the president of United States however, backed Apple Inc. The Solicitor General of the United States, Noel Francisco had argued on the company’s side on behalf of the administration. This move was sharply questioned by the liberal and conservative justices.
In order to explain how the purchase from an App Store is handled, Elena Kagan, the Liberal Justice stated that from her perspective, she has engaged in a single step transaction with the company.
The users of the iPhone have argued that this monopolizing apps makes services overpriced to them compared to what the prices would have been if the apps were available from other sources as well.
Source: Reuters, 9to5Mac
