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The first trial arising from a wave of UK class action antitrust lawsuits against Big Tech is due to begin on Monday as Apple faces a £1.5bn legal claim that it imposed “excessive and unfair ” nga mga singil sa software nga na-download gikan sa app store niini.

Barring a last-minute settlement, the iPhone maker will begin a court showdown at the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal over allegations it abused a dominant market position to charge commissions of up to 30 percent. of purchases in the App Store market.

is due to the testimony, is the latest in a growing list of legal challenges faced by Big Tech companies around the world.

In the US, the Department of Justice has batok sa Apple nga nangatarungan nga ang mga lagda sa App Store niini nakapugong sa kompetisyon. However, Apple is largely emerging Fortnite

Antitrust lawyers and the litigation funding industry behind those cases will be scrutinizing the CAT’s actions as they try to gauge the prospects for success for several other antitrust cases against tech groups including Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta.

The case against Apple, brought on behalf of millions of UK consumers, comes after major setbacks last month for two other class action claims.

Fought SETTLED

A were carried out, many of them against technology companies, under a UK law drawn up a decade ago that allowed a wide range of legal actions for alleged infringements of competition law.

The claimants, led by “class representative” Rachael Kent, a lecturer at King’s College London, say Apple has created a monopoly by forcing developers to create software for the devices. sama sa iPhones ug iPads sa pag-apod-apod sa ilang mga app gamit ang kaugalingong app store sa kompanya.

They are demanding £1.5bn from Apple, arguing that “excessive and unfair” commissions charged by developers are passed on to consumers who download software and buy content or digital services within the app.

Lawyers for the claimants, led by Mark Hoskins KC and Tim Ward KC, are expected to say that Apple made “excessive” profits, because the commissions were much larger than if the software was also available in third party opponents. ngadto sa App Store.

While Apple’s iOS faces competition from Google and its mobile operating system Android, claimants say it has entrenched market power within its “ecosystem” of devices and software.

Apple said the lawsuit was “without merit”. “The commission charged by the App Store is at the forefront of those charged by all other digital markets,” it said in the first case launch in 2022.

Most apps are offered for free, requiring no payment, Apple added, and “most” developers qualify for a discounted 15 percent commission, under rules introduced in 2020 for small nga mga negosyo kansang mga app nagdala sa ubos sa $1m kada tuig.

Apple is expected to argue that the claimants defined the market too narrowly as including only iOS apps and that it is not dominant in the broader markets for digital transactions and devices.

As it did when it faced similar complaints about its App Store policies from Epic Games and music app Spotify, Apple is likely to say its commission is justified by the broader investment it has made in plataporma niini, lakip na dili lang ang pagproseso sa pagbayad kondili ang mga himan sa developer, seguridad. review, marketing and curation.