|
To follow up a bit about, my issue isn't that Apple is getting whacked, I don't buy ebooks from Apple, so I really don't have a concern there. My issue is that this is clearly a case of what I consider a major issue in the US these days, prosecutor overreach. Basically, there is an ongoing issue where prosecutors will come up with what is referred to as a novel legal theory, find a sympathetic judge and go after a company hammer and tongs to either extract a lot of money (the reason many of the states are jumping on the bandwagon) or to notch up a big press win to further their political ambitions.
They get away with it because they tend to go after unpopular companies and most companies would rather pay the extortion rather than risk being run out of business. I think that we see from this thread, that there are always people willing to assume that a big company deserves to be beaten, no matter the facts in the specific case. While some may sneer and declare Apples whatever happens to them, the bottom line is that if you have that attitude, you give up your right to complain when the same thing happens to Amazon, or Google, or whatever company you like gets picked as the ATM to be raided.
Prosecutors do it because currently, there is no downside. Even if they lose, they just move on with no penalty. In this case, Apple is a big enough company that they can afford to fight the case and have the willingness to fight what they perceive as an injustice. I fully expect them to win in appeals. Judge Cote gets overturned frequently.
|