Washington — The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling today in the Apple v. Pepper case that covers antitrust and liability issues for Apple.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court’s Apple v. Pepper case that explained that the lower court’s rule (Ninth Circuit’s rule) “would allow an action for treble damages against any company with which the plaintiff has transacted, regardless of whether the claims arise from alleged pass-on damages, so long as that defendant can be labeled a ‘distributor.’”
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“The Court’s own precedents and the Sherman Antitrust Act did not appear to allow these lawsuits against so-called matchmaker companies. So it is disappointing the Court instead upheld the lower court ruling that puts multi-sided business models at risk of expensive, duplicate claims.
“We are concerned that the outcome of this ruling expands a previous ruling (Illinois Brick’s), and increases liability risks for multi-sided business models.The decision may unintentionally expose businesses offering digital platform services to unintended liability.”
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