Special Master Jose Linares has rejected the DOJ’s request to reconsider his decision allowing Apple to seek documents from 14 separate government agencies in the antitrust case against the company. Here are the details.
One of Apple’s defense strategies in the antitrust lawsuit the DOJ brought against the company involves the US government’s own use of its products. Apple’s basic argument is that some of the practices challenged by the DOJ are, in fact, legitimate security and privacy safeguards. Hoping to support that defense, Apple wants to examine how federal agencies evaluate security and privacy when setting smartphone policies and making purchasing decisions. The dispute was then referred to Special Master Jose Linares for a ruling. Last month, Linares granted Apple’s request, prompting the DOJ to file a motion for reconsideration . It argued that he had applied the wrong legal standard, that Apple’s requests were unduly burdensome and disproportionate, and that the documents sought had limited relevance to the case.
To that end, Apple has been seeking documents from the following 14 agencies: Following Apple’s initial request to force these agencies to turn over the documents, the DOJ objected.
Apple then filed an opposition arguing that the DOJ’s motion “failed at every level” and refuting the department’s arguments point by point. Linares has now issued his new decision, concluding that “none of [the DOJ’s] arguments in support of its application for reconsideration are persuasive,” and leaving his original ruling in place.
