EU Reportedly Planning to Charge Apple for Violating Digital Markets Act

[MacRumors]

The European Commission plans to charge Apple for violating the Digital Markets Act after determining that the iPhone maker is not complying with obligations to allow app developers to "steer" users to offers outside of the App Store without fees, according to the Financial Times, which cites three people familiar with the matter.

It appears that the EU is taking issue with Apple's Core Technology Fee, but the exact charges that it allegedly plans to bring against Apple are unclear.

Apple could face non-compliance fines of up to 5% of its average daily worldwide revenue, which is currently just over $1 billion, according to the report.

The report said the EU's findings are preliminary, so Apple may still have time to make any necessary changes on iOS before the charges are formally laid by regulators. In the event the EU moves forward with the charges, they would be formally announced by the European Commission over the "coming weeks," the report added.

Apple made major changes to the App Store, Apple Pay, Safari, and more on the iPhone in the EU as part of iOS 17.4 earlier this year. Apple now allows alternative app marketplaces, but it still charges a Core Technology Fee. Apple also introduced a default web browser selection screen in Safari, now allows third-party web browsers to use web engines other than its own WebKit engine on the iPhone, and now allows third-party mobile wallet apps to access the iPhone's NFC chip for contactless payment functionality.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: EU Reportedly Planning to Charge Apple for Violating Digital Markets Act

 

[turbineseaplane]

Fantastic news

It's time to start with some ramifications for the continual blatant disregard for the spirit of the EU regulations and their intent

Apple apparently thinks they can just make a mockery of regulations
It's time to remind them who's in charge in a jurisdiction (not them)

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

It was always heading this way sooner than later

 

[Mikey44]

Tickle me surprised, government not liking the outcomes of legislation, expected to be handled by company.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Tickle me surprised, government not liking the outcomes of legislation, expected to be handled by company.

"Company blatantly disregarding the clear and easy to understand intent and spirit of the regulation"

 

[TruthWatcher412]

So why would revenue outside of the EU jurisdiction be subject? Shouldn’t it just be the revenue in the EU where this law applies that they should be fined?

 

[jumpcutking]

It sounds terrible, but what would happen if Apple left the EU market? A solid billion is a lot to be fined for non-compliance. I respect the spirit of EU regulations to open up closed systems, to promote standards, and to protect user privacy. I wonder if the EU is too ambitious; their regulations are sometimes challenging to comply with. I’m referring to GDPR… this I’m unsure of. I hear many battles with the EU and anti-competitive practices, but at some point, switching to leave a market will become a viable option.

 

[contacos]

As Channing Tatum once wrote:

 

[Dulcimer]

Apple should just pay them out of pity. Europe has absolutely zero technical or business leadership in the world due their overly regulated markets. It’s rare to see successful startups there.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Get out, Apple. It will never end if you don't. These morons hate success.

 

[contacos]

It sounds bad but what would happen if apple just left the EU market? A solid billion is a lot to be fined for non compliance. I respect the spirit of EU regulations to open up closed systems, to promote standards and protect user privacy. I just wonder if the EU is being to ambitious, their regulations sometimes are tough to comply with. I’m referring to GDPR… this I’m unsure of. I hear a lot of battles going on with EU and anticompetitive practices but at some point that switch to leave a market will become a viable option.

The board would never agree to that

 

[jumpcutking]

The board would never agree to that

They might if it becomes fiscally irresponsible to stay in that market - they have an obligation to the shareholders and the corporation’s success.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If your idea for a multinational tech company is "leave a very large market", rather than comply with regulations of said market....

I'd question your organizational leadership ideology, quite frankly

 

[WiseAJ]

The EU is just a legal mafia shaking down innocent American companies. They are specifically targeting American companies and leaving out their own super monopolistic company Spotify.

 

[desslr]

The EU are overreaching not just in big tech but other industries too and levelling outrageous fines against businesses.

They need to fill that huge gaping hole in their finances previously plugged by Britain before Brexit.

Good luck to Apple with this, reckon they’ll come out top here.

 

[icanhazmac]

The EU is just a legal mafia shaking down innocent American companies. They are specifically targeting American companies and leaving out their own super monopolistic company Spotify.

Correct, this is about attempting to keep EU monies in the EU.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The EU are overreaching not just in big tech but other industries too and levelling outrageous fines against businesses.

The word "government" literally includes the word "govern" within it

 

[tridley68]

Apple should pull out and tell the EU to stuff it.

 

[jlc1978]

This will probably be litigated for years and Apple will just find other ways to preserve App Store revenue; they aren't gong to let large companies free load off of their store or services.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Apple should pull out and tell the EU to stuff it.

Never gonna happen thou is it

 

[jz0309]

And if this turns out to be the case, Apple will go to court…
Popcorn out, years of secure income for a lot of lawyers to come

 

[JPack]

Not sure why Apple even tried as it was obvious the fee was in clear violation of the DMA.

Either way, the EU will get their money, either through daily penalties or compliance. Apple ain't about to stop selling to nearly 500 million consumers.

 

[DaSal]

Good. Apple needs to comply with European law if it sells products in Europe. Just like how European countries have to comply with US law to operate in the US. It's kind of bizar how many people in this thread seem to imply that US companies somehow don't have to respect local laws. Why wouldn't they? That's how business works in every country. Any company always has to comply with the local laws of the country in which they're operating. Why would it be any different for Apple?

People also seem to be forgetting that there's also an antitrust case against Apple in the US, for many of the same reasons as in the EU.

The idea of Apple pulling out of the EU is, simply, absurd. The costs of complying are minuscule compared to the profits they'd lose if they pulled out of the EU.

Also, anyone in this thread who's enjoying playing on an emulator on their iOS device should be thanking the EU for these laws, since the Digital Markets Act is the only reason Apple now allows emulators in the App Store.

 

[Appleman3546]

So Apple bet that it would take years to process this decision before having to pay any fines and they may just be able to settle at the last minute anyway to remove the core technology fee, but I bet Apple is surprised how quickly this preliminary decision came.

 

[scheinderrob]

fantastic news. apple plays games, they should be penalized.

quite frankly, there should be jailtime for apple employees since they can afford any financial penalties.