Antitrust Laws: Apple's Case
Competition is a vital element of any vibrant marketplace. Thanks to competition, both businesses and individuals get to benefit from lower prices, increased product variety, higher-quality commodities, and greater innovation. Antitrust laws are meant to ensure that consumers are protected from unfair business practices and anticompetitive mergers, and that consequently, effective levels of competition are created and sustained in the economy.
Antitrust laws differ from country to country and, at times, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the U.S., antitrust laws include the Sherman Act of 1890 and the Federal Trade Commission and Clayton Acts, both of 1914 (FTC, 2014). The Sherman Act, whose violation is punishable by criminal law, outlaws any attempts to monopolize a market or restrain trade through rig bids, divide markets, or price fixation (FTC, 2014). The Federal Trade Commission Act, on the other hand, illegalizes any '"unfair methods of competition' and 'unfair or deceptive acts or practices,'" such that any act that violates the Sherman act also violates the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC, 2014). The Clayton Act incorporates the elements of the Sherman Act, but prohibits, in addition, the formation of mergers that could have the effect of reducing competition to insufficient levels (FTC, 2014).
The above antitrust laws have been applied to changing markets since the age of buggies and horses to the present digital era, but have always had the same overriding goal; to sustain vigorous "competition for the benefit of consumers, making sure there are strong incentives for businesses to operate efficiently, keep prices down, and keep quality up" (FTC, 2014). In the...
(discuss them and then choose one that would possibly work) One possible solution for this anti-trust problem, which is currently proposed by authorities, is that Microsoft should allow its competitors to access its information database. In this way, the competition could build new applications that are compatible with the Microsoft operating systems - Windows so would not be affected by the Microsoft strategy to develop an integral and connected line
Antitrust and Intellectual Property Antitrust Law Remedies in Intellectual Property Cases In any research paper it is important to first define the terms used prominently in order to make sure that the reader understands what is being said. In this case, the two terms that require definition are antitrust and intellectual property. According to a definition from Cornell University Law School "Trusts and monopolies are concentrations of economic power in the hands
Apple, Google Analysis of each company Apple is a designer and marketer of consumer electronic devices and software. The company is also vertically integrated with respect to retailing, operating its own stores and functioning as one of the biggest online retailers in the world. Apple's primary products are the iPhone ($80.4 billion), iPad ($32.4 billion) and portable computers ($17.1 billion). Other billion-dollar products are desktop computers, iPod music players, iTunes, peripherals and
Microsoft Antitrust Case Antitrust Practices and Market Power Antitrust case: 2001 antitrust Microsoft settlement Microsoft Windows is such a ubiquitous piece of software, it is virtually impossible to imagine using a computer without it. Even though many people dislike the system, to function in contemporary life requires most students and workers to be familiar with the product. This lack of de facto choice has led Microsoft to become the subject of numerous antitrust
There is a risk, however, that the company begins to lag the pace of technological change, and in such a situation would see reduced relevance in its industries. What the PEST analysis shows is that in general the external environmental forces have either a favorable or neutral impact on Apple's operations. Traditional sources of external risk (political/legal) are minimal and the other key risk source (technological change) has traditionally
Additionally, he argued that the best interest of the consumers, as promoted by Gate's organization, was in fact not the core element of new endeavors, as the company had argued, but that whenever a new product or service was being projected, this would be done in order to serve the financial interests of the organization rather than increase customer utility (Kegel, 2006). In order to better understand why the above mentioned
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