Apple Inc. won dismissal of a consumer lawsuit alleging it maintained a monopoly over iPhone applications, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges to customers.
The lawsuit took aim at Apple’s practice of keeping 30 percent of the price consumers pay for applications made by independent software developers. Buyers would pay less for applications if it weren’t for the “fixed” fee, consumers alleged in the complaint.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, said the fee is passed on to consumers by developers, rather than charged directly to buyers by Apple. Consumers don’t have a right to sue over such passed-on charges, she ruled.
The case is In re Apple iPhone Antitrust Litigation 11- cv-06714, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).
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