California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he has joined a multi-state antitrust lawsuit aimed at ending Apple’s alleged monopolistic behavior regarding its immensely popular iPhone products.

During a live-streamed news conference in Los Angeles, Bonta on Thursday said California is party to the U.S. Department of Justice-led suit, along with 14 other states and Washington, D.C., alleging four violations of the federal Sherman Antitrust Act.

“We alleged monopolistic behavior and attempted monopolistic behavior, and we allege that this behavior has been ongoing for essentially 15 years,” Bonta said. 

By forcing Apple to comply with the law, “it will help increase competition, increase innovation, improve quality, lower prices. It’lll be a great benefit for consumers,” Bonta said. 

The suit says Apple allegedly delays, degrades and blocks technologies that would make it easier for people to switch to another smartphone brand.  

The company allegedly undermines cross-platform messaging apps, impedes so-called “super apps” that make switching phone brands easier, blocks cloud gaming services, limits the functionality of other companies’ smart watches when interacting with iPhones, restricts competitors’l digital wallet apps and inhibits people’s ability to use a wide range of apps on their iPhones, according to the suit. 

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, also alleges violations of New Jersey and Wisconsin laws and asks a judge to order Apple to comply with the law. 

Bonta said it’s a complex case that could involve even more states as it moves forward and could take up to three years before it is heard in court. 

“I do want to say that this is a pro-business action,” he said. “When we make sure that the rules of the marketplace are being followed, that no one is acting illegally, abusing their power, acting in a way that’ls anti-competitive or exclusionary, it provides an opportunity for the next innovator, the next dreamer, the next visionary, the next startup, the next mom and pop to be able to participate in the marketplace and compete as opposed to being squashed out and pushed out because of the dominant market force of the leading entity.”

Apple officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.