Futurum senior analyst Olivier Blanchard takes a look at Apple’s latest filing in the Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle, in which Apple was ordered to allow developers to point consumers to alternate forms of payment outside of its App store. In this overview, Blanchard explains why the next phases of the appeal process could be critical to the future of ecommerce platforms, including Google Play and Amazon, as well as the U.S. retail ecosystem as a whole.
Qualcomm Exonerated by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Court Declines Final FTC Petition
The FTC’s clumsy antitrust fishing expedition against Qualcomm’s technology licensing business comes to an embarrassing end. The FTC had requested an en banc review of the appeal, but the 9th Circuit has declined to honor the request, meaning that the FTC’s case against Qualcomm is now over.
ICYMI: 2016 $15 Billion Judgment Against Apple Hangs on by a Thread Following General Court of the European Court of Justice Ruling
At the heart of the European Commission’s case against Apple (and by default, to some degree, against Ireland) is the fact that EU member States, under EU state aid rules, are prohibited from providing tax benefits to select companies. In 2016, the EC concluded that Ireland had granted illegally preferential and artificially low tax benefits to Apple.
German Court Ruling against Facebook Data Collection Practices a Possible Catalyst
Last year, Facebook had been ordered to stop collecting and combining data across its various platforms without explicit user consent. This latest ruling in Karlsruhe effectively negates the stay granted by the Dusseldorf court, and requires Facebook to once again comply with the original order. This could well trigger a domino effect of regulatory action against Facebook in the EU and the US.