Endymio
Posts: 2,673 +2,702
The specific legal term here is "refusal to deal". Apple refuses to deal with it's own competitors, just as you are unlikely to find Walmart products on the shelves at Target. As Cornel Law Review states:They aren't going after Apple for "having a monopoly" but instead are investigating Apple for specific policies and actions that are all highlighted in this article.
"According to a longstanding declaration of antitrust law, any firm-even one with monopoly power-may deal with whomever, and on such terms as, it chooses...."
CLR continues to state that many exceptions to this exist -- however, those exceptions are exceedingly ill-defined.
The point often lost here is that antitrust law does not exist to protect competitors, but rather consumers. Will Apple's customers be happier after this DOJ action than they were before? It seems very, very, doubtful indeed.