今日導讀

現代社會，手機在手，啥也不愁。購物不用帶錢包，網上支付可以搞定一切；旅遊懶得背相機，修圖 App 幫你打造最美的自己。看直播、學英語、玩遊戲、聽音樂，我們的生活已經充斥著各類 App。據悉，蘋果 App Store 已累計發布超過 450 萬款 App，固定抽成 30%，為其創造百億美元的收入。這樣的做法算壟斷嗎？美國最高法院又是如何介入的？

新聞正文

天才不在於把事物復雜化，而在於把復雜的事物變得簡潔。Genius is not about making complicated things, it‘s about making complicated things very simple.

The Supreme Court will wade into a fight over Apple’s tightly controlled App Store

蘋果商城：嚴加管控引紛爭，最高法院欲介入

The Supreme Court on Monday announced that it would consider a case that asks whether consumers can sue Apple over the way it manages millions of apps for iPhones and iPads, threatening to expose not only Apple but also its tech industry peers to new antitrust

美國最高法院周一時宣布，法院將受理一起案件，該案件涉及的問題是，消費者是否可以因為蘋果管理 iPhone 和 iPad 上數百萬應用的方式對其提起訴訟。不只是蘋果，該案件可能會將蘋果的其他科技界同行都卷入新的反壟斷審查中。

註：espose sth/sb to sth 讓.....遭受...

The lawsuit could force Apple to rethink the way it manages its App Store, long considered one of the most highly curated platforms in the business. For one thing, Apple generally takes a 30 percent cut of all third-party apps sold through its portal. In the eyes of the plaintiffs, that fee ultimately hurts consumers, because developers pass those added costs on to iPhone and iPad users who purchase the paid apps.

這一訴訟可能會迫使蘋果重新思考公司應用商城的管理方式，長久以來，蘋果的商城一直被認為是業內篩選最嚴的平臺之一。首先，蘋果通常會向通過其商城銷售的第三方應用收取 30%的分成。在原告看來，這筆費用最終侵害的是消費者，因為開發者會把這筆費用轉嫁給購買付費應用的 iPhone 和 iPad 用戶。

註：cut：利潤。pass sth on to sb：把某件事轉嫁給某人。

Apple has argued that its policies target developers, not consumers. It has likened itself to a shopping mall that “leases space to various stores,” which then sell to shoppers. In a digital context, Apple says consumers aren’t buying apps from the company — they’re buying them from the creators of those apps through the App Store interface. The arguments rest on a Supreme Court decision from the 1970s that found consumers can’t seek damages in cases where a company allegedly charged a third party and that third party then passed the costs onto its customers.

蘋果辯稱，其政策針對的是開發者而不是消費者。它把自己比作一家“出租空間給不同商戶的”商業區，再由商戶出售商品給顧客。在數字技術的語境下，蘋果聲稱消費者並不是從蘋果公司處購買商品，而是經由蘋果商城界面從應用開發者那裏進行購買。這一說法倚仗的是最高法院在上世紀 70 年代的一項裁決，該裁決認定，如果一家公司被控向第三方收取費用，而第三方又將費用轉嫁給消費者，則消費者不得要求賠償。

註：allegedly：被指控做了某事

A loss for Apple could mean trouble for other companies, like Google and Microsoft, which have their own repositories for third-party apps on smartphones and other devices. It could mean a “potential flood of lawsuits,” said Morgan Reed, the leader of ACT: The App Association, a Washington-based trade group for app-makers that is sponsored by Apple. It has asked the Supreme Court to halt the lawsuit.

蘋果輸掉官司的話，可能會給谷歌和微軟等其他公司帶來麻煩，這些公司在智能手機和其他設備上都有自己的第三方應用庫。ACT 領導人摩根裏德說，這可能意味著有“一大批潛在的官司”需要處理。ACT 是一家位於華盛頓的應用協會，也是蘋果贊助的開發者貿易組織。它已經請求最高法院中止訴訟。

註：a flood of 大量的許多的。

————— 文章來源 / 華盛頓郵報 ?

重點詞匯

wade:跋涉;（從水、泥等）蹚，走過 wade into:積極參與，強行介入某事。

sue /su?/ v. 控告；提起訴訟

lawsuit /?l??su?t/ n. 訴訟；起訴

curate /kj??re?t/ or /?kj?r?t/ v. 操持；篩選並呈現（互聯網行業術語）

portal /?p??rtl/ n. 門；門戶網站

plaintiff /?ple?nt?f/ n. 原告；起訴人

liken /?la?k?n/ v. 把…比作；把…比擬為

lease /li?s/ v. 租用，租借，出租

interface /??nt?rfe?s/ n. 界面（尤指屏幕布局和菜單）

repository /r??pɑ?z?t??ri/ n. 倉庫；貯藏室；存放處

e.g.

accessible repositories of water

Her mind is a rich repository of poems. poem：詩

wade into sth.

強行加入，介入，插手

rest on 依靠；依賴 e.g. The country‘s security rests on its alliances.

拓展內容

美國法庭上的相關術語

infractions： 微罪

misdemeanors： 輕罪

felonies： 重罪

plaintiff；complainant；demandant:（民事的）原告

prosecutor； accuser:（刑事的）原告

defendant；the accused：被告

investigation：調查或偵查

bail：保釋

detention：羈押

drop the charge：撤回指控

dismiss the charge：駁回指控

preliminary hearing：預審

grand jury：大陪審團

arraignment：傳訊，控告

acquitted：無罪釋放

probation：緩刑

蘋果面臨起訴：App Store 涉嫌壟斷嗎？