[Ed Note: The following is the second part of a two-part post authored by Mohini Parghi, a third year student of NALSAR University of Law. This post has been authored as part of the TLF Editorial Board Test 2019-20. Part I can be found here.]

I. Introduction

[Ed Note: The following is the first part of a two-part post authored by Mohini Parghi, a third year student of NALSAR University of Law. This post has been authored as part of the TLF Editorial Board Test 2019-20. Part II can be found here.]

Introduction

Recent developments have seen a significant amount of discussion on the activities of tech giants such as Google and Apple and their anti-competitive effects. One of the focal points of these discussions has been the app store. Last month, Spotify’s allegations against Apple for, inter alia, imposing unfair conditions and giving preferential treatment to Spotify’s competitor Apple Music brought these issues into the limelight. In addition to this, the Dutch Competition Authority launched an investigation into app store related competition law concerns. Across the Atlantic, the US Supreme Court also ruled against Apple when it held that customers could sue Apple for the 30% commission it charges, even though it is paid by the app developers. Clearly, the case against Apple for using its App Store to stifle competition has gained traction. Such cases would prove to be instructive for future action against tech giants for using online platforms to abuse their dominance and the purpose of this post is to provide a brief idea of how such cases could proceed.