英文早点丨0518 - “苹果税”要完？美国最高法裁定苹果公司败诉

5月13日，美国最高法院经法官投票以五比四的结果判决苹果公司在一项关于其应用商店反垄断案件中败诉，这意味着iphone用户可以就此问题继续向苹果提起诉讼。用户指控称，苹果应用商店针对应用销售收取的30%手续费被转嫁至消费者身上，这是利用其垄断优势的不公平行为。苹果曾于去年11月表示，提起此项诉讼的原告只限于开发者而不是用户。本次在大法官布雷特卡瓦诺主导的意见中，否决了苹果的这一论点，卡瓦诺表示苹果的论点除了让苹果避开此项及类似诉讼之外，并无太大意义。根据法院裁定，消费者可以起诉苹果利用其市场主导地位人为抬高其应用商店的价格。法院可能要求苹果削减30%的应用销售佣金。这项关于苹果应用商店的法律诉讼已持续近十年，诉讼可能导致的罚款金额高达数亿美元。

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will.

Apple suffered a significant defeat at the Supreme Court on Monday, when the justices ruled that consumers could forge ahead with a lawsuit against the iPhone giant over the way it manages its App Store. The 5-4 decision allows device owners to proceed with a case that alleges Apple has acted as a monopoly by requiring device owners to download apps only from its portal while taking a cut of some sales made through the store.

The ruling could have serious repercussions for one of Apple’s most lucrative lines of business, and open the door for similar legal action targeting other tech giants in Silicon Valley.

At the heart of the case is Apple's handling of iPhone and iPad apps created by third-party developers and made available on its heavily curated App Store. Apple long has taken a commission on every paid app sold through this portal, rankling some developers that essentially see it as a tax.

文本选自 ：The Washington Post（华盛顿邮报）

作者 ： Tony Romm

原文标题 ： Supreme Court rules against Apple, allowing lawsuit targeting App Store to proceed

原文发布时间 ：13 May 2019

proceed

英 [prəˈsiːd]      美 [proʊˈsiːd]

• v. 继续做(或从事、进行);接着做;继而做;行进;前往

  
  

monopoly

英 [məˈnɒpəli]      美 [məˈnɑːpəli]

• n. 垄断;专营服务;被垄断的商品(或服务);独占;专利;专利品;“大富翁”(棋类游戏，游戏者以玩具钞票买卖房地产)

lucrative

英 [ˈluːkrətɪv] 美 [ˈluːkrətɪv]

• adj. 赚大钱的;获利多的

rankle

英 [ˈræŋkl]     美 [ˈræŋkl]

• v. 使人耿耿于怀(或怨恨不已、痛苦不已)

早起卡 ☞ 没有伟大的意志力，便没有雄才大略。