Apple bought the iCloud.net social network to ensure that the domain will be used for online services based on the iCloud platform. At the moment, Apple owns both the iCloud.com and iCloud.net domains, so there can no longer be any confusion regarding the services offered by each.
Until the acquisition of the iCloud.net domain, a social network operated there, which was currently closed, the Apple company needing clarity regarding its services. The existence of iCloud.com with access to Apple services and the existence of iCloud.net as a social network could cause confusion among Apple product users.
Some of them could think that iCloud.net is a social network owned by the Apple company, so closing it would solve the problem for those from Cupertino. It is not known how much Apple would have paid for the iCloud.net domain, but the amount can be very high, considering the importance of the domain and the number of users.
Apple paid about $5.2 million for iCloud.com before launching services based on it, so iCloud.net probably cost even more money.
