Cydia’s antitrust case against Apple could go ahead, according to Reuters. On Thursday, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the same judge who oversaw the case between Apple and Epic Games, ruled that Cydia creator Jay “Saurik” Freeman could file a lawsuit against the company after rejecting an offer. Apple to dismiss the lawsuit.
Freeman first sued Apple in late 2020, alleging that the company had an “illegal monopoly on the distribution of iOS apps.” Judge González Rogers dismissed Cydia’s initial complaint against Apple, ruling that the lawsuit was outside the statute of limitations. But he also gave Freeman permission to amend his case, which is what he did. In its latest complaint, Cydia argues that the iOS updates that Apple released between 2018 and 2021 were “open” acts that harmed resellers like himself. This is a statement that Judge Gonzalez Rogers found credible enough to explore.
“To the extent that the plaintiff’s claims are based on Apple’s technology updates to exclude Cydia from being able to fully operate, those claims are timely,” the judge said in his ruling.
Cydia is suing Apple (the company stopped processing purchases in 2018) and hopes to force the tech giant to open iOS to third-party payments and app resellers. Opening the App Store to more competition is something U.S. lawmakers are also considering, as the Senate Judiciary Committee has recently advanced the Open Markets Act. If enacted, the law would require Apple to allow side loading on iOS and prevent the company from blocking developers in its payment system.
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