In an interesting development, Cydia founder Jay Freeman (aka Saurik) has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and its App Store monopoly on software distribution on iOS. The goal is ultimately to provide users and developers with alternatives to the App Store for software distribution and payments.
This lawsuit seeks to open the markets for iOS application distribution and iOS application payment processing to those who wish to compete fairly with Apple and recover the enormous damages that Apple caused.
Cydia launched in 2007 (a year before the App Store) and served as the default software distribution center for jailbroken iPhones. Apple then launched its own App Store and quickly got into legal battles over the status of Cydia and the legality of the jailbreak entirely.
To this day, the jailbreak is technically legal, although it voids Apple’s terms of service and warranty. Cydia claims that Apple forcibly closed its chances of competing on the iOS app distribution front and this is the basis for its new lawsuit.
If it weren’t for Apple’s anti-competitive takeover and maintaining an illegal monopoly on iOS app distribution, today’s users could choose how and where to locate and obtain iOS apps, and developers could use the reseller of iOS applications of your choice. .
Cydia discontinued its purchase mechanism in December 2018, although it is still accessible on jailbroken devices. The new legal battle comes months after Epic Games filed a similar antitrust lawsuit against the anti-competitive and monopoly practices of Apple’s App Store.
Source (PDF) | Via