US shutdown gives Apple a breather in its DoJ antitrust suit

AppleInsider

Apple has been given a brief reprieve from the Department of Justice's antitrust suit, with the court confirming that discovery in the lawsuit has been temporarily paused due to the shutdown of the U.S. Government.

Apple Park, Department of Justice seal

The U.S. government shut down on October 1, affecting many government services until an agreement can be reached on a new government services funding bill. While the focus of reporting is on the political accusations on why it couldn't pass in the first place, it also has some unintended consequences affecting businesses.

For Apple, it's actually giving a little bit of unexpected breathing room in its dealings with the Department of Justice.

On October 2, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey received a request from the United States to stay its discovery into Apple over its ongoing antitrust suit against Apple. The court filing explains that it is "due to the lapse of Congressional appropriations" that has resulted in the furloughs of DoJ attorneys.

Apple didn't object to the request of a stay.

In response, the court agreed to implement the stay. Any pending deadlines and motions are "administratively terminated." This will be the case until Congressional funding is restored and DoJ attorneys are able to resume civil litigation.

The court further clarifies that the order is not a dismissal of the entire case. Effectively, the case is being halted, and will be reinstated to the Court's active docket once DoJ counsel file a request to lift the stay.

For Apple, the stay is beneficial in a few ways. At face value, it has a brief period of time where it doesn't have to fulfill any demands or orders as part of the antitrust suit.

As for how long Apple gets to benefit from this unexpected stay in proceedings, it's hard to tell. A government shutdown can last from days to weeks, and with little warning for when a bill is actually going to be passed.



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mikethemartian

So they should make sure it lasts as long as possible. :-)

danox

Multiple wars since the early 1960’s, in-fighting at home and Taco Tuesday every other day. China appears to the end of the century in the bag…..

edited October 4

humbug1873

So all that bowing and scraping and suffering through those speeches from Tim Cook still didn't terminate this case!? So why is Tim still wasting his time with this demented orange idiot!?

robjenk

I don't really understand.  It seems Trump has helped Apple avoid the brunt of Tariffs, and Cook has forged a reasonably good relationship with the current administration.  Trump has a lot of power over the DOJ.  Why not crush this anti-trust suit to further help Apple?  It doesn't make much sense for Trump to assist Cook and Apple while turning a blind eye to this anti-trust suit, especially because it really does lack a lot of merit.