Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for its review of an antitrust-based lawsuit, Epic v. Apple. The brief focuses narrowly on the issue of how courts should evaluate markets that are served by platforms having multiple sets of customers, commonly referred to as “multi-sided markets,” an important economic principle that is critical to the operation of much of the technology-enabled economy.
CCIA has advocated for competition in the tech industry for 50 years. The following can be attributed to CCIA President Matt Schruers:
“As this brief makes clear, courts need to account for the distinctive characteristics of digital markets in the existing antitrust framework. Evolving economic theory has taught us much in recent years about how firms respond to interrelated demand from different groups of customers. The multi-sided business model — which is used by a variety of firms from shopping malls to restaurant-booking services and travel websites — has helped to revolutionize the digital economy, and can have enormous benefits for consumers, entrepreneurs, and businesses.”