The United States Department of Justice is accelerating its antitrust probe into Apple and there is increased likelihood that Apple will face an antitrust lawsuit, reports The Information.
Citing internal sources with knowledge of the investigation, The Information says there has been a "flurry" of activity as the DOJ has continued to question Apple, its customers, and its competitors about Apple's control over the iPhone. The DOJ sent new subpoenas to Apple's business partners over the summer, and has assigned more staff to the probe.
Specifics have yet to be nailed down, but The Information's sources believe that the investigation will lead to a lawsuit. Apple has been under investigation by the DOJ for two years now, and the probe is part of a broad investigation that has seen the Justice Department looking into Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
The DOJ has spoken with Apple critics that include Spotify, Match Group, Basecamp, and Tile, all companies unhappy with Apple's App Store policies and control.
Attorneys involved in the probe will eventually give the Department of Justice a recommendation on whether or not to file a lawsuit against Apple, but no formal recommendation has been made at this point in time, and there's still a possibility that no case will be filed as the investigation is ongoing.
Apple recently came out largely ahead in its lawsuit with Epic Games and the judge decided that Apple had not violated U.S. antitrust law, but The Information's sources say that the DOJ's investigation is broader because it is also examining issues like Sign in With Apple, App Tracking Transparency, and location tracking restrictions, so the Epic loss will not hinder a potential DOJ case.
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