The Big Picture

Vincent Boland: Why is the US using an 134-year-old law to bring Apple to heel?

New regulatory probes have raised the prospect that the best of times may be over for Big Tech

Apple CEO Tim Cook: the US Department of Justice case claims “Apple illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones”. Picture: AP

Nothing echoes more loudly in the executive suite than a knock on the door from the US Department of Justice, and last week the knock came for Apple. In what must be the most aggressive regulatory action in two decades against any US company, the DoJ filed suit against the iPhone maker that cuts to the heart of its awesome reach and hold over the tech ecosystem.

The accusation is that Apple has a monopoly ...