House Judiciary Committee Investigating Apple Regarding ‘Competition in Digital Markets’ (PDF)

(Note that the link is a scanned PDF.)

My reading is that this is a really broad request. They want Apple to break down revenue by specific products in a far more granular way than they provide in quarterly statements — e.g. revenue for Apple Watch specifically. And they’re asking for “all communication” from executives regarding a slew of topics.

The letter says “we write to request that Apple Inc. (the “Company”) provide the documents and executive communications set forth in the Schedule in accordance with the attached Definitions and Instructions no later than October 14, 2019.” Unclear to me as a non-lawyer is whether this really is a “request” — and even if it is, it feels like an offer Apple can’t refuse.

I enjoy that on page 4, they use “sherlock” as a verb, albeit in quotes, with no explanation other than a footnote pointing to this Washington Post story from last week.

★ Friday, 13 September 2019