Apple conglomerate faces U.S. Supreme Court in antitrust case

On Thursday, March 21, the leading international technological company Apple Inc. was sued by the Biden Administration on the grounds of monopolizing the smartphone market.

This civil lawsuit alleges the corporation is imposing contractual restrictions and withholding critical access from developers, according to Reuters.

This would mean Apple is abusing their power in the smartphone market as a brand to get more money from their consumers. The U.S. Justice Department said this is taking advantage of developers, content creators, artists, small businesses, merchants and publishers.

The civil lawsuit accuses Apple of an illegal monopoly on smartphones maintained by imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access from, developers.

The App Store, unique only to Apple interfaces, withstood a grueling stint in court in a case when Apple was sued by Epic Games, revealing the application market chargers app developers up to 30% of their commissions. This case resulted in the application “Fortnite” to be removed from the Apple App Store by developer Epic Games in 2020, according to USA Today.

“While the lawsuit found that Apple did not violate antitrust laws, a federal judge ordered Apple to allow links and buttons to pay for apps without using Apple’s in-app payment commission,” writes Doina Chiacu and Stephen Nellis in a Reuters article.

Adding to the legalities involving the U.S. government, it seems Epic Games is not the only major conglomerate claiming Apple is not honoring their court-ordered injunction after the 2020 case. USA Today reports Meta Platforms, Microsoft Elon Musk’s X and Match group also protest Apple in antitrust issues.

“The technology companies, which developed some of the most popular apps in the App Store, said Apple was in “clear violation” of the Sept. 2021 injunction by making it difficult to steer consumers to cheaper means to pay for digital content,” writes Johnathan Stempel for USA Today.

Erbert’s and Gerbert’s opens in Fusion Dining Center

The Grand Valley State University dining center “Fusion,” located in the Russel H. Kirkhof Student Center building on the Allendale campus, has recently re-opened a third dining option.

Erbert’s and Gerbert’s sub shop now sits in between the pizza and pasta campus dining restaurant called “Ciao” and the combined kitchen Mexican food vender “Zoca” and the burgers and fries joint “Laker Grill.”

Erbert’s and Gerbert’s, similarly to the sub station in The Dish (Kliener Commons) and the Laker Club located inside of Fresh Food Company, serves a selection of sandwiches and soups.

There are options to build your own meal with the “Pick Two” meal combo, turning any sandwich into a half size and adding in your choice of a soup or mac and cheese cup.

Erberts and Gerberts sub selection is broader when it comes to campus dining locations containing steak sandwich options. The campus dining vender also features a specialty sandwich featuring mac and cheese on top of Barbeque Brisket called the “Neuron.”

Erbert’s and Gerbert’s are a franchised food chain that has locations all across the United States, mainly congregating around the Midwest.

After losing the Subway on campus to construction, Erbert’s and Gerbert’s is sizing up to be an alternative sanwhich location.