FORTUNE TELLING ON
APPLE AND ANTITRUST

Can the U.S. build an antitrust case against Apple? Fortune posed this question today. The short answer: Probably not.

"You don’t have to be Woodward or Bernstein to see Spotify’s fingerprints on the flood of Apple antitrust stories" that have hit the wires lately, notes writer Philip Elmer-DeWitt. Spotify has been lobbying furiously in D.C. to jumpstart an investigation or other action against Cupertino, he adds, but the DOJ "likes to keep things simple."

The primary contentions against Apple are twofold. One argues that Apple has conspired with the major labels to defeat freemium, but, as Elmer-DeWitt observes, "The air went out of that argument when Apple Music launched with Spotify’s freemium model intact."

The other has to do with Apple's charging a premium for downloading of competitors apps through its App Store, and supposed leveraging of its size for advantage. But that's all a bit general for an investigation based on, say, the Sherman Act, which Apple was found to have violated in the e-book case a while back.

Will Apple's rivals be able to gin up some kind of government action? Stay tuned.