Justice Brent Kavanaugh votes with liberal SCOTUS members against Apple regarding App Store Monopoly

[Opel_Justwax]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/13/supreme-court-rules-against-apple-in-app-store-antitrust-case.html

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 against Apple in a case involving its signature electronic marketplace, the App Store, allowing iPhone users to move forward with their suit against the company.

The iPhone users argued that Apple’s 30% commission on sales through the App Store is passed along to consumers, an unfair use of monopoly power that ultimately results in inflated prices.

Apple argued that only app developers, and not users, should be able to bring such a lawsuit. But the Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, rejected that claim.

“Apple’s line-drawing does not make a lot of sense, other than as a way to gerrymander Apple out of this and similar lawsuits,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Shares of Apple, already battered by trade concerns, were down more than 5%, lagging the broader market.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The conservatives on the Supreme Court are, more than anything, economic conservatives,

but not always. Like many cases that come before the court, this was a commercial litigation case. It involved the rather technical question of who has standing to sue under the antitrust laws, and here the court decided in favor of the consumers, the users of the apps sold by the Apple Store, on the ground that the users are direct purchasers. Interestingly, the dissent was written by fellow Trump appointee, Gorsuch, who argued that the developers of the apps, not the end-users, are the directly injured parties. Gorsuch, who took the more conservative position in this case, actually disagrees quite fervently with Kavanaugh. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-204_bq7d.pdf

The point is that the liberal and conservative factions on the Supreme Court aren't monolithic. They disagree even among themselves. And someday the court will decide a case against Trump, and that will be very interesting to witness.

[Cattledog]

2. The fact that he used the word "gerrymander" may be good news for election cases down the road.

[Buckeyeblue]

3. I picked up on that as well. Very interesting.