Apple’s iCloud storage policies are unpopular with users for a variety of reasons. And according to a judge’s ruling, certain aspects of those policies might just be monopolistic, as Apple’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit related to iCloud storage has just been denied. Here’s what that means.
iCloud storage lawsuit against Apple is moving forward in California
Mike Scarcella writes at Reuters:
Apple must face a proposed class action accusing the iPhone maker of illegally monopolizing the market for digital storage and causing consumers to overpay for its iCloud service, a federal judge in California ruled on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee in San Jose, California, said the plaintiffs in the case had sufficiently alleged Apple violated antitrust law by requiring iPhone customers to use its iCloud data storage service to back up core data and device setting files.
You can read the full ruling from the US judge here.
Apple’s iCloud storage practices have proven unpopular with a lot of users. The limitation of only offering 5GB of free storage is especially controversial.
This suit isn’t directly about that policy, though it certainly has implications for it.
The person who filed the suit was actually paying $2.99/month for iCloud storage at the time of filing. However, they still took issue with the fact that third-party cloud storage can’t be used for certain key iPhone functions—namely, backups.
While iOS does support third-party apps for backing up some types of data, like photos, videos, and other files, backing up core settings data is only supported by iCloud.
Reuters notes that ambitions for the class action are large. “The plaintiff’s lawyers want to represent a nationwide class of at tens of millions of consumers who purchased iCloud storage plans.”
If Apple ultimately loses the case and is forced to make changes to its iCloud storage policies, the current 5GB free might become a little easier to live with—or change altogether to fend off the threat of increased competition.
What do you think of the claims of the iCloud storage lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
Best iPhone accessories
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
