Anti-Trust Issues Threaten Apple's Empire

Anti-Trust Issues Threaten Apple's Empire

Governments have been regulating business interactions since colonial times.

Large companies, such as Apple, deal with the most regulations because they are so massive. Being the most valuable company in the world, Apple is looked over more closely by governments here and abroad. Antitrust laws have plagued companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft for years now. Government regulators keep a close eye on large companies to prevent monopolies and unfair business practices. A company as large as Apple is bound to have issues, but their issue with antitrust laws and price fixing might trouble all their business decisions in the future.

Apple is under a lot of scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission officials for their alleged anti-competitive practices in the e-book market. Antitrust laws can be defined as, "laws protecting trade and commerce from unlawful restraints and monopolies or unfair business practices." (Merriam-Webster, 2013) This antitrust issue has placed a black cloud over Apple's company. "The danger for Apple is that antitrust becomes an omnipresent threat that must be factored into all ongoing business decisions." (Theirer, 2012) The U.S. government, as well as, the European Commission are now monitoring every decision Apple makes. Not only is Apple being heavily monitored, but they have also damaged their reputation in the eyes of the public.

Apple has been dealing with the price fixing and the e-book market issues in court since 2011. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, "The court found that Apple's illegal conduct deprived consumers of the benefits of e-book price competition and forced them to pay substantially higher prices… and under the proposed order Apple executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition in the future with external monitoring." (USDOJ, 2013)