Apple defeats U.S. consumer lawsuit over iCloud storage, for the time being
Apple secured a legal victory as a lawsuit accusing the company of unlawfully dominating the digital storage market, leading to higher iCloud prices for consumers, was dismissed. The suit claimed Apple breached antitrust laws by pressuring users into relying on iCloud for backing up essential data and device settings. Apple has consistently rejected these allegations of misconduct.
Reuters:
U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee in San Jose, California, on Friday said, opens new tab the plaintiffs in the class action had not shown Apple violated federal or state antitrust law. However, she ruled they could amend their complaint and refile it… Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said they intend to file an amended lawsuit that addresses the judge’s concerns.
Lee said in her ruling that consumers are not required to purchase cloud storage from Apple. The judge also said the plaintiffs’ claims did not plausibly show Apple as having any monopoly power in the cloud storage market.
Apple allows third-party storage for photos and videos but not for users’ restricted data files that are needed to “restore” an Apple device. In seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, Apple said its policy was designed to guarantee high levels of security.
Lee said in her ruling that “if anything, Apple’s allegedly high prices would incentivize rivals to increase production to take share from Apple.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple offers 5GB of free iCloud storage. This is more than enough space for the essential, sensitive data required to restore devices.
As we wrote of this case exactly one year ago today, “As with Macs, iPhones and iPads work with third-party online storage services such as Box, Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive etc. Apple’s Files file management app for iPhones and iPads allows users to browse local files stored within apps, including files stored in third-party cloud storage services including Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.”
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