Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan for Mac. On today's show, Disney gets the rest of Hulu and what Trump really understands about tariffs.

But first, Apple's App Store is under attack. Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled five to four that a group of iPhone users can move forward

with their lawsuit against Apple, in which they claim that the App Store represents an illegal

monopoly on iPhone apps.

This is a very big deal because it goes to the heart of Apple's business model, particularly

as it seeks to move more into services.

It also creates the possibility of legal exposure for other online

marketplaces because they now too could be sued by the people who buy products from them.

Key here is that when you buy an iPhone app, Apple gets 30% of the revenue. A lower court had

ruled that this revenue flow means Apple was allowed to be sued for monopolistic practices,

whereas it wouldn't have been if only third-party app developers got paid.

Apple, of course, objected, but the Supremes upheld that ruling, setting up a major legal showdown.

And again, just to be clear, the Supreme Court didn't say that the App Store was a monopoly.

It simply didn't allow the case to be thrown out.

The bigger picture here

is that it's not just this group of folks who are upset. Spotify is suing Apple on similar

grounds in Europe, and the maker of Fortnite has publicly complained about the revenue share,

pointing out that it doesn't need to send Google a cut of its revenue from Android downloads.

Apple obviously says that it expects to prevail,

but it must be getting nervous. Third-party apps are an essential part of the iPhone's popularity,

thus making them both a direct and indirect cash cow for Apple. Any change to the status

...