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Elizabeth Warren confirms Apple is on her big tech breakup list
racoleman29 said:Democrat here. She'd never get my vote...Apple hater.
Apple is not a monopoly and it build the App Store concept from the ground up. I don’t always like how it polices the store but I could switch to another phone if it mattered that much.
Google and Facebook and Amazon have different issues. They often use their monopoly status in one area to push a new product in a new area at the expense of fair competition and to the detriment of consumers.
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Qualcomm pushed for iPhone exclusivity in response to $1B incentive payment demand, CEO sa...
MlorianFueller said:applemagic said:Hmm...I am not sure why AI is presenting this (the incentive payment) as some kind of a bribe that Apple offered Qualcomm. Going by Florian Mueller's article on fosspatents.com, it appears to be the other way around!
That is, Qualcomm had a habit of negotiating incentive payments from device makers in return for strategic favours. So, there's really no wrinkle in the FTC case, as suggested by AI. Instead, it's one of four issues related to Qualcomm's conduct that are being investigated. To quote:
********For the FTC, Jennifer Milici outlined the four key issues surrounding Qualcomm's conduct that the FTC is tackling (let's not forget that some other aspects are at issue in Apple v. Qualcomm in San Diego, where a trial will start on April 15), which are interrelated as she also explained:
- the "no license-no chips" policy;
- incentive payments (for a brief explanation, those incentives effectively reduce patent licensing fees in exchange for doing Qualcomm some strategically-relevant favors);
- the refusal to license rival chipset makers (note that Judge Koh's summary judgment in this context was based on contractual obligations, while the focus at this trial is now on an antitrust duty to deal); and
- past exclusive arrangements with Apple.
http://www.fosspatents.com/2019/01/in-its-courtroom-chess-match-with.html
Oh, and btw - https://www.sullcrom.com/district-court-holds-that-frand-commitment-does-not-require-licensing-at-chip-level
You are kidding right? Mueller mostly took Samsung and Nokia's in Apple's fight with those two. Further, Qualcomm's CEO's testimony doesn't even make sense. Apple didn't have any leverage over Qualcomm to demand anything. Who else is the FTC going to get to testify other than the companies that have dealings with Qualcomm?
Additionally, if a robber asks you for the hundred dollars in your pocket, and you agree because he has a gun to your head, that doesn't really mean you agreed in a legally binding manner.
The district court case doesn't mean anything. Texas is a friendly to patent Plaintiff's that is why everybody sues there. The case was contrary to how a California court rules, and the Texas court had to apply French law. It likely will get appealed. -
Qualcomm blocked evidence in German Apple suit that previously led to non-infringement fin...
ktappe said:I wonder if a legal expert could answer this Q: If the requisite evidence has already been presented in U.S. court, isn't it therefore available to the German court? Or are German courts willfully blind to previously available discovery? If the latter, that seems like a pretty f---ed up "justice" system Germany has.
So, in the US, the Court was allowed to view Quorvo's technology without it being made available to Qualcomm's engineers, and the Judge was convinced Apple's iPhones didn't infringe Qualcomm's patents.
The difference in outcome is between the way the courts and parties handled the evidence. In the US, the Court was able to evaluate the evidence, which was kept secret from Qualcomm's engineers. In Germany, Qualcomm prevented Apple and its supplier from keeping the evidence confidential, which allowed the Judge to rule against Apple. Totally whacky if you ask me.
Apple's supplier is rightfully worried that if its trade secrets are revealed to Qualcomm, Qualcomm will steal its otherwise unprotected technology. -
Apple rumored to have restarted iPhone X production, but motive not clear
elijahg said:StrangeDays said:Dead_Pool said:More evidence that prices are too high across the board. The phones are not the problem; the prices are. Half of the iPhone’s price increase since it was released a decade ago has come in the last year alone.
Just because you want things for free or cheaply, doesn’t mean there’s a problem. It’s good to want things.
It is OK Tim isn’t a visionary as long as he has a strong creative team and he empowers them. Apple is spending tons of money on health care research. The Apple Wstch is utilizing some of that research. There is lot more Apple can do in health care.
Further, if Apple’s unit growth is maturing then any smart CEO is going to try and grow the company by offering some higher price point products. Apple’s approach is offering lower priced phones in the XR and more expensive models in the XS.
More over the Wall Street Journal doesn’t name sources and has a history of being wrong. -
Google's $5B antitrust fine similar to Apple's e-book, App Store woes
These cases are not similar at all and the assertion that they are shows a lack of understanding concerning anti-trust Law.
Anti-trust is about protecting the consumer by ensuring fair competition. Europe’s rules and the US rules differ, but the principles are the same. They tend on focusing on preventing monopolists from abusing their power to enter new markets or squeezing out competition.
In Europe Google has a monopoly when it comes to search and it’s phone operating system. Third party phone makers have no realistic choice, but to use Android. Google is using this dominance to ensure its other services like email, search, and itsbrowser stay entrenched by forcing hardware manufacturers to bundle these services or else not get a license to use Android.
microsoft did the same thing with Windows. Pc makers would get very unfavorable licensing terms or no license at all if they didn’t bundle and make Explorer the default. It put the then dominant Netscape out of business.
Apple got a raw deal with e-books. Apple had no market power to force publishers to do anything. The system Amazon favored allowed it to set the prices of ebooks thereby often selling the ebooks at a loss to publishers. Further, Amazon has the monopoly in online book sales and was using that monopoly to force publishers to give favorable terms for ebooks. The government screwed that one up. That is why Apple felt confident it would win at trial.
with the App Store Apple doesn’t have a monopoly for phone hardware sales. If you don’t like the App Store buy a phone made by somebody else.