EU fined Apple €1.8 billion for violating streaming regulations.
The EU punished Apple €1.8 billion (£1.5 billion) for violating competition regulations regarding music streaming.
The European Commission said that the company has stopped streaming services from telling customers about payment options available outside of the Apple app store.
Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager claimed that Apple had abused its ten-year market dominance.
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She gave the US tech giant instructions to get rid of all the limitations. Apple has declared that it will file an appeal of the ruling.
Spotify, a Swedish music streaming service, complained to the European Commission about the restriction and Apple’s 30 percent fee, which led to the judgment.
According to Ms. Vestager, “developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem” had been limited by the US tech giant.
“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” she stated.
Apple declared that it would file an appeal, stating that there was no proof that customers had suffered any harm.
“The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast,” the business stated in a statement.
“Swedish business Spotify is the main proponent of this decision and will benefit the most from it.
“Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the EC [European Commission] more than 65 times during this investigation,” added the statement.
Spotify described Apple’s fine as “a significant event” and stated that it conveyed “a strong message” that “no business, not even a monopoly like Apple, can abuse power to control how other businesses interact with their customers.”
Since the Swedish company sells its subscriptions via its website rather than the app store, Apple claims that it does not receive any fee from them.
Spotify had maintained that Apple Music, Apple’s competitor music streaming service, benefited from the limits.
The Digital Markets Act
Ahead of the impending introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple said in January that it will permit users in the European Union to download apps from stores other than its own.
The DMA of the European Union aims to promote competition in the technology sector and attempt to weaken the market dominance of companies such as Apple and Google.
Internet businesses faced a fine of up to 10% of their annual turnover if they did not comply with the comprehensive list of standards outlined in the new legislation by August of last year.
As Apple, Meta, and TikTok continue to fight various elements of the law, the companies have until later this week to comply with a plethora of amendments that have been issued since the beginning of the year.
Anne Witt, an EDHEC law professor, told the BBC that the DMA would “significantly impact” how designated platforms function inside the EU.
“It is a more effective but also much blunter legal tool in the fight against market concentration in the digital economy,” she stated.
A renewed attack on Apple’s “lack of compliance” with the DMA was made last week in a letter to the European Commission by Spotify and 33 other businesses involved in various digital sectors.
“Apple’s new terms not only disregard both the spirit and letter of the law but if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA and the considerable efforts by the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets competitive,” added the statement.
