You're right in that there's nothing inherently wrong with a monopoly. There's only things wrong with how you got it, and more importantly, how you use it. When you use collusion to build one (or a cartel), that's a problem. When you start using it to preclude people from turning to an alternative, that's a problem.
Right now Apple is the dominant player in the mobile phone space, but it's definitely not a monopoly, and AFAICT they aren't really doing anything that is preventing competitors from entering the market. iCloud is a step in that direction, but it's not very good right now so we'll have to wait and see. Android basically lets Apple do whatever they want, and is the credible competitor that Microsoft was lacking.
Where Apple was a monopoly was in mp3 players, and where they were abusing it was with their DRM, by also having the dominant music store, and not allowing other devices to get music from it, or to let other stores sell DRM music for the iPod. They removed it, and I don't think it had anything to do with consumers, it was simply an anti-trust target that was growing larger by the day. They were smart and fixed that.
"Where Apple was a monopoly was in mp3 players, and where they were abusing it was with their DRM.... They removed it, and I don't think it had anything to do with consumers, it was simply an anti-trust target that was growing larger by the day."
You seem to have gotten the history wrong. DRM on itunes was mandated by the music companies. After a very public push from Steve Jobs, the music companies tested DRM free with Amazon and after that they gave Apple the green light.
DRM may have been mandated, but Apple's refusal to license FairPlay to other manufacturers, and refusal to allow the iPod to support any other DRM, was not.
Jobs' spinning this into a victory for the little guy rather than an anti-trust dodge is just another example of his PR prowess.
I don't see why I should be required to license my IP to anyone, let alone companies that may compete with me. I also don't see how a product I design would need to support a format that is licensed by a competitor and is something I'd have to pay money for.
You want content for your iPod, you can purchase it from iTunes, which will be DRM'ed according to the music industry, or you can purchase your music on a CD and rip it to MP3 and transfer it to your iPod that way.
There is no rule that any company should be required to license their IP, nor is there a rule that a company should be required to purchase a license to someone else's IP.
"There is no rule that any company should be required to license their IP"
...unless you're a monopoly. That's the point of anti-trust laws, that they are special cases. When you're using dominance in one market to maintain dominance in another, they change the rules to stop you, unless you stop yourselves as Apple did.
Apple has a dominance in iOS, since it is their OS, but they don't have a monopoly in the world since only about 30% of mobile devices are iOS devices.
Thus no special case required. When iTunes was around there were other options for purchasing music, hence no monopoly.
Right now Apple is the dominant player in the mobile phone space, but it's definitely not a monopoly, and AFAICT they aren't really doing anything that is preventing competitors from entering the market. iCloud is a step in that direction, but it's not very good right now so we'll have to wait and see. Android basically lets Apple do whatever they want, and is the credible competitor that Microsoft was lacking.
Where Apple was a monopoly was in mp3 players, and where they were abusing it was with their DRM, by also having the dominant music store, and not allowing other devices to get music from it, or to let other stores sell DRM music for the iPod. They removed it, and I don't think it had anything to do with consumers, it was simply an anti-trust target that was growing larger by the day. They were smart and fixed that.