Apple has been hit by a class action lawsuit which alleges that the company is “rigging the competitive playing field” for cloud services by unnecessarily restricting the storage of certain iPhone and iPad files to its iCloud platform, according to Bloomberg Law.
The complaint, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accused Apple of a practice that has “unlawfully tied” its mobile devices and iCloud together.
The lawsuit emphasises the fact that iPhone users only have one option to conduct full device backups, via Apple’s iCloud, the company’s own cloud platform, which provides only 5GB of free storage.
Many users find this insufficient and therefore need to purchase a supplemental iCloud storage plan.
The plaintiffs say that by doing this Apple “prevents rival cloud platforms from offering a full-service cloud solution that can compete effectively against iCloud.”
The lawsuit alleges that Apple has “marked up its iCloud prices to the point where the service is generating almost pure profit”.
“There is no technological or security justification for Apple mandating the use of iCloud for Restricted Files. Apple draws this distinction only to curtail competition and advantage its iCloud product over rival cloud platforms,” states the lawsuit.
To see the court dockets of the full lawsuit, which can be found at Bloomberg Law, click here.
Lead plaintiff Julianna Felix Gamboa and the proposed class is being represented by the Hagens Berman law firm, which has filed several class action lawsuits against Apple, including the $560 million class action Apple Books price-fixing lawsuit against the company.
Those interested in potentially joining the lawsuit can do so via a form on the Hagens Berman website.
