DOJ officially comes after Apple for its iPhone ecosystem being illegal

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is officially coming after Apple and its walled-garden ecosystem, with the regulator claiming Apple has forced its way into becoming a monopoly that gained it an "astronomical valuation" at the expense of consumers, developers, and competing phone makers.

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The new lawsuit filed on Thursday by the DOJ states that Apple implemented changes such as blocking cross-platform messaging apps, limiting third-party wallet and smartphone compatibility, disrupted non-Appe Store programs/cloud streaming services in an effort to keep consumers purchasing iPhones. CNBC reports that Apple's fight against the lawsuit will cost the company money, which may prevent it from releasing new products and services, thus hurting consumer demand.

Notably, 16 attorneys general stated that Apple's ecosystem anticompetitive tactics are also within its advertising, browser, FaceTime, and news offering, with Attorney General Merrick Garland saying in the recent release, "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly." An Apple spokesperson told CNBC that the company completely disagreed with the lawsuit and would defend against it.

"This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple-where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology," said the Apple spokesperson

"This anticompetitive behavior is designed to maintain Apple's monopoly power while extracting as much revenue as possible," the complaint from the DOJ said