Feds say Apple created a monopoly with iPhone |
The Justice Department is suing Apple, accusing the trillion-dollar tech giant of illegally creating a monopoly through its iPhone and other products.
The DOJ is joined by 16 bipartisan state attorneys general in the suit that alleges Apple limits competition and hurts consumers, developers and small businesses through tight restrictions on its App Store, limiting the functions of cross-platform programs and third-party smart watches.
“Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the lawsuit. “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law.”
He said the company has profited from “exclusionary, anticompetitive conduct.”
“For consumers, that has meant fewer choices; higher prices and fees; lower quality smartphones, apps, and accessories; and less innovation from Apple and its competitors,” Garland said. “For developers, that has meant being forced to play by rules that insulate Apple from competition.”
Apple pushed back on the claims in a statement.
“We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it,” the company said. (The Hill) |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Liz Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Lawmakers crawl toward final $1.2 trillion spending plan as conservatives push back |
House conservatives wasted no time taking aim at the $1.2 trillion spending package congressional leaders unveiled overnight, as Congress races to fund the federal government before a partial government shutdown Friday.
“A massive spending bill drafted in secrecy and dropped on us in the middle of the night is being rushed to the House floor for a vote with less than 36 hours to review,” the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which includes about three-dozen Republicans, posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The roughly 1,000-page funding proposal was released publicly at 3 a.m. Thursday. It includes funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, among others.
The plan, dubbed a “minibus,” would fund the federal government through the end of September. It’s expected to hit the House floor Friday morning, leaving little time for it to pass the Senate and make it to President Biden‘s desk before a shutdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Democratic negotiators from the Senate and White House all claimed small victories in the package they hashed out together.
But some on the right have taken out their frustrations on Johnson, blaming him for cutting a deal with Democrats.
“It’s total lack of backbone, total lack of leadership, and a total failure by Republican leadership. There’s no other way to describe it,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast Thursday morning. “This bill is an abomination.” The never-ending fight over the FBI’s new headquarters remains a point of contention among hard-line conservatives who have advocated deep cuts to the agency.
RELATED: What made the cut in the spending deal? (The Hill) |
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Biden fundraising haul far bigger than Trump’s |
Former President Trump is far behind President Biden in the money race as their likely November rematch approaches, the latest campaign finance reports.
Trump saw a slight uptick in the latest reports, which reflect February fundraising totals, from the previous month, but his monthly haul, as well as his cash on hand entering March, were still dwarfed by Biden’s.
The numbers:
Last month:
Biden’s campaign raised $21.3 million.
Trump’s campaign raised $10.9 million.
Cash on hand:
Biden’s campaign: $71 million.
Trump’s campaign: $33.5 million.
More from The Hill.
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© Johnny Milano for The Washington Post via Getty Images |
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NY starts process of seizing Trump assets for fraud suit judgment
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The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, where former President Trump’s golf resort and private estate known as Seven Springs is located — a first step toward seizing the assets.
Trump faces a Monday deadline to secure a nearly half a billion dollar bond as he appeals a civil judgment against a sweeping civil fraud trial over his business dealings.
He and his attorneys have argued that they have exhausted all efforts to get the estimated $470 million needed. (The Hill) |
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DMVs across the country experience service outage |
Multiple states across the country saw service disruptions at their motor vehicle offices Thursday.
According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), an organization that provides software to DMV offices nationwide, there was an issue with the network that connects the country’s various agencies.
The outage was “due to a loss in cloud connectivity,” the organization said in an emailed statement.
The outage lasted about three hours Thursday.
“During that time, there was no ability to process messages that support transactions of driver licenses and motor vehicle titles,” AAMVA said in its statement. “This prevented a number of motor vehicle agencies from issuing driver licenses and vehicle titles during the outage.” (The Hill) |
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“I defended the Capitol from Trump’s mob. I know he’s an insurrectionist,” writes Metro Police officer Daniel Hodges.
“Income inequality is gutting the middle class,” writes Geoffrey Sanzenbacher of Boston College. |
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116 days until the Republican National Convention.
151 days until the Democratic National Convention.
228 days until the 2024 general election. |
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Friday: The House and Senate are scheduled to being a two-week recess (assuming they finalize a budget deal by then). |
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