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Koch Brothers Back Apple In Antitrust Row

By  |  March 31, 2022

Apple has won the support of the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers’ advocacy group in a court fight over claims the iPhone maker’s App Store is anti-competitive.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, founded by David and Charles Koch and known for supporting libertarian conservative causes, was the first to submit a filing on Thursday’s deadline for groups to weigh in on Apple’s side in its battle with Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite.

Apple mostly won its 2021 trial with Epic, but the iPhone maker is asking the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a portion of a judge’s September ruling finding that the App Store’s business model violates California’s unfair competition law.

The non-profit foundation argues the judge’s legal analysis was faulty, emphasizing that antitrust laws are meant to protect competition, “not competitors.”

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