Proton Joins Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple's App Store Practices

Encrypted communications provider Proton has joined an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, filing a legal complaint that claims the company's App Store practices harm developers, consumers, and privacy. The Switzerland-based firm joined a group of Korean developers who sued Apple in May rather than filing a separate case.

Proton asked the US District Court for Northern California to require Apple to allow alternative app stores, expose those stores through its own App Store, permit developers to disable Apple's in-app payment system, and provide full access to Apple APIs. The company added a privacy-focused argument to typical antitrust complaints, contending that Apple's pricing model particularly penalizes companies that refuse to harvest user data. Developers of free apps typically sell user data to cover costs, while privacy-focused companies like Proton must charge subscriptions for revenue, making Apple's commission cuts more burdensome.

Hypocrites

[registrations_suck]

They want to allow "choice" to use THEIR payment system, but also the ability to DISABLE Apple's payment system, thereby disabling the same choice for consumers who want to use it.

Fucking hypocrites!

exactly

[Anonymous Coward]

A big benefit of Apple's payment system is that it's super easy to cancel a subscription and the "app" developer never gets my e-mail address.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

Plus, all your shit is in one place, instead of random payment systems spread throughout the universe.

Re:

[jenningsthecat]

They want to allow "choice" to use THEIR payment system, but also the ability to DISABLE Apple's payment system, thereby disabling the same choice for consumers who want to use it.

Fucking hypocrites!

I think that perhaps Proton doesn't really care about - FTA - "allowing developers to disable Apple's in-app payment system and to gain full access to Apple APIs". I suspect it may be a negotiating tactic: ask for more than you really want so there's something to concede at the appropriate time.

Re:

[Tony Isaac]

Unlike Apple, Proton isn't a monopoly. When you dominate a market, the rules of ethics and legality change. If you're a small company, you are free to require your customers to sign exclusive deals with you, in order to do business with them. It's legally and ethically OK because customers have somewhere else to go. But if you dominate a market, it's no longer OK to require customers to strike such deals, because they have nowhere else to turn. This is literally the core of antitrust law.

So no, it's not hyp

Class Action

[necro81]

Sure, one proton may be able to successfully sue for superficial damages. But what you really need is a class action for all affected protons - there should be north of 10^40 of them. That's the kind of judgment that'll force real change.

Re:

[Himmy32]

The case needed a plaintiff that's positively charged and knows how to spin correctly.