The best account of Apple v. Pepper

If you can’t attend a Supreme Court session yourself, SCOTUSblog is the next best thing.

From Amy Howe’s Argument analysis: Justices poised to allow antitrust dispute against Apple over apps to go forward, posted Monday afternoon.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in a dispute between technology giant Apple and a group of iPhone users over the sale of apps from Apple’s App Store. The iPhone users are seeking massive damages from Apple, complaining that the company is violating federal antitrust laws by requiring the users to buy apps exclusively from the App Store. But as it comes to the justices, the case is about whether the iPhone users can bring their lawsuit at all: Apple contends that they cannot, because it is only selling the apps at the prices set by app developers. After 60 minutes of debate, there seemed to be at least five votes to allow the case to move forward, with only Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to be a clear vote for Apple. [more]

My take: I defer to Howe. I’ve been burned too often trying to second-guess opinions from queries posed in court. But really, Uber, Airbnb and Etsy anyone?

See also:

• Time to break up Apple’s App Store monopoly?
• Apple v. Pepper: This is what makes it interesting

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