Justice Department

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Justice Department:

DOJ takes a step closer to Apple antitrust suit

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App Store faces barrage of antitrust charges
The U.S. Justice Department might hit Apple with an antitrust lawsuit before the end of 2022.
Photo: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels CC

The U.S. Department of Justice reportedly moved closer to filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The DOJ has investigated the iPhone-maker over the past several years and begun to actually write a potential suit.

The government agency has looked into many aspects of Apple’s business and there’s no clear word on whether the complaint will be about the App Store or something else.

FBI cracks iPhone Pro 11, raising doubts about demand for Apple backdoor

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Apple Store employee fired after stealing personal photo from customers' iPhone
Why is the FBI demanding Apple help to create a ‘backdoor’ to unlock iPhones when it has GrayKey? That's a good question.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Revelations that the FBI has access to a tool that can unlock data on secure iPhones are raising questions as to why the agency is demanding Apple help to create a “backdoor” to recover data on the iPhones of a Florida shooting suspect.

Trump calls for Apple to ‘step up’ and unseal iPhones used by ‘killers, drug dealers’

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Apple CEO Tim Cook talked Mac Pro with President Trump
President Trump called on Apple to cooperate and unlock two iPhones belonging to a gunman who killed three in Florida in December.
Photo: White House

President Donald Trump called on Tuesday for Apple to “step up to the plate” and “help our great country” by unlocking the iPhones used by a Saudi aviation student that killed three people at a Florida Navy base in December.

Apple denies AG Barr’s calls of no help to unlock Pensacola killer’s iPhones

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Tim Cook & Apple stand behind its stance that iPhone encryption is "vital to protecting our country and our users' data."

Apple denied late Monday that it has not cooperated with U.S. federal authorities to help unlock a pair of iPhone’s believed to have belonged to a Saudi aviation student that killed three people at a Florida Navy base in December, saying it always works with law enforcement in their investigations and directly contradicting claims by the U.S. Attorney General that it had not given “substantive assistance.”

US Attorney General demands Apple unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones

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slide to unlock lock screen
Apple is embroiled in another unlocking controversy.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple could be headed for another collision course with U.S. federal law enforcement, similar to the spat it had with the FBI over creating backdoors into iOS.

Attorney General William Barr has asked Apple to provide access to two phones used by the gunman at the Pensacola Naval Air Station shooting last month. Barr said this morning that Apple has provided no “substantive assistance” so far and indicated that he’s ready for a fight regarding the issue.

Say goodbye to Sprint! T-Mobile merger gets green light

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You won’t be seeing these signs for much longer.
Photo: Sprint

The US Department of Justice just signed off on the biggest telecommunications deal in many years. This was the last real hurdle in the $26 billion merger of Sprint into T-Mobile.

The carriers had to agree to sell off some assets to win this approval. Still, every iPhone owner who’s a Sprint customer will soon be hearing from T-Mobile.

Apple’s endless battle with Samsung could rage on for years

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samsungvapple
Who would've thought such small devices could trigger such a big war?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Holy timewarp, Batman! Despite already being five years old, the U.S. Department of Justice has suggested that the Samsung vs. Apple patent case could continue to rage for at least a few more years — by recommending that the Supreme Court return the case for yet more examination.

By asking the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling in favor of Apple, the D.O.J. is basically asking that Apple’s current damages award (which stands at $548 million) be reassessed.

Apple winning as lawmakers give up on forced backdoors

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iPhone SE
The FBI won't get its backdoor anytime soon.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

U.S. lawmakers are said to be giving up on their push for new encryption laws that would require companies like Apple to create software backdoors that allow the government to access our devices.

It’s thought the lack of White House support and Apple’s high-profile battle with the Justice Department, which was unable to force the company into providing an iPhone unlock, are some of the reasons why supporters are losing hope.

Craig Federighi on why FBI’s backdoor demands are so harmful

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Hair Force One wants everyone to become a coder.
Cray-Fed says the FBI wants us to return to a world of iOS 7-level security.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s battle with the FBI, over whether it should create a backdoor to allow for the hacking of iPhones, is one of the biggest stories in tech right now.

Over the weekend, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, took to the pages of the Washington Post for an impassioned op-ed about how hard Apple works to stay ahead of criminals and terrorists who want to infiltrate its systems — and why the FBI and Justice Department’s proposed solution to the problem is so “disappointing.”

There’s more than one way to (allegedly) bribe a Libyan — think Apple laptop

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You might not think an Apple laptop is on the same level as a Cartier watch or an all-expenses-paid blowout in Morocco, but some authorities think different.

The laptop was mentioned in an international corruption investigation into whether brokers Tradition Financial Services ponied up big bucks to win the hearts (and the business accounts) of Libyan officials for investments that netted the firm millions.

Apple To Justice Department: E-Book Antitrust? WTF?!?

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With the U.S. Department of Justice gearing up to slap Apple with an antitrust lawsuit, the Cupertino company has spoken out over claims it has teamed up with publishers to raise the price of e-books, and downplayed the threat from Amazon’s Kindle. It argues that it gave publishers the opportunity to set their own prices, and that it cannot be blamed for e-book price hikes.

U.S. Justice Department Plans To Slap Apple With Antitrust Lawsuit Over E-Books

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The curtains have barely drawn to a close after Apple’s new iPad keynote, but the spotlight is still shinning on Cupertino, only this time in a negative way. A new report by the Wall Street Journal claims that Apple’s E-Book pricing has come under scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department who is threatening to sue Apple for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books.