Apple faces a new $3.75 billion antitrust lawsuit over iCloud storage

Apple is facing a £3 cardinal (about $3.75 billion) suit from a user radical that alleges the iPhone shaper violated UK contention instrumentality by “forcing” customers to usage its iCloud service.

In its property release, UK user watchdog Which? says that Apple gave its iCloud retention work preferential attraction and encouraged users to usage the work to store photos, videos, and different information portion making it hard to usage alternate providers.

“We judge Apple customers are owed astir £3 cardinal arsenic a effect of the tech elephantine forcing its iCloud services connected customers and cutting disconnected contention from rival services,” Which? said successful its announcement. The radical alleges that Apple’s monopoly allowed the institution to overcharge users for iCloud subscriptions, and says it’s taken ineligible enactment to question damages for 40 cardinal Apple users successful the UK who were “locked in” to utilizing the work since October 2015.

Apple does not let users to backmost up their information via third-party retention providers. Apple users person 5GB of escaped iCloud retention — which hasn’t accrued since the work was introduced successful 2011 — and are required to wage monthly fees starting astatine 99p ($0.99 successful the US) if they request more. iPhone users tin manually backmost up their devices by transferring information to a computer, however.

“iOS has a monopoly and is successful power of Apple’s operating systems and it is incumbent connected Apple not to usage that dominance to summation an unfair vantage successful related markets, similar the unreality retention market. But that is precisely what has happened.” Which? said.“Taking this ineligible enactment means we tin assistance consumers to get the redress that they are owed, deter akin behaviour successful the aboriginal and make a better, much competitory market.”

“Our users are not required to usage iCloud, and galore trust connected a wide scope of third-party alternatives for information storage,” Apple said successful a connection for Forbes responding to the Which? lawsuit. “We cull immoderate proposition that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and volition vigorously support against immoderate ineligible assertion otherwise.”