Financial Times Reports EC to Charge Apple With Non-Compliance Under DMA for CTF
Javier Espinoza reporting from Brussels, and Michael Acton from San Francisco, for the Financial Times (archive link in case your FT subscription isn’t working):
The European Commission has determined that the iPhone maker is
not complying with obligations to allow app developers to “steer”
users to offers outside its App Store without imposing fees on
them, according to three people with close knowledge of its
investigation. The charges would be the first brought against a
tech company under the Digital Markets Act, landmark legislation
designed to force powerful “online gatekeepers” to open up their
businesses to competition in the EU.
The commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in March it was
investigating Apple, as well as Alphabet and Meta, under powers
granted by the DMA. An announcement over the charges against Apple
was expected in the coming weeks, said two people with knowledge
of the case. […]
If found to be breaking the DMA, Apple faces daily penalties for
non-compliance of up to 5 per cent of its average daily worldwide
turnover, which is currently just over $1bn.
The EC leaks everything to the Financial Times. Reuters points out that EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager leaves office in November. Makes me wonder if there’s a clock-running-out aspect to this. Does the incoming regime share her politics regarding US tech companies?
Forget about trying to figure out what the EC wants from reading the DMA. It doesn’t say. I suspect they want Apple to completely forgo monetization of its IP on iOS — to allow the distribution of iOS apps without any charge or fee whatsoever other than the $99 annual developer program fee. I’m not sure, at all, how Apple is going to respond, but I do not think the EC going to get that.
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Javier Espinoza reporting from Brussels, and Michael Acton from San Francisco, for the Financial Times (archive link in case your FT subscription isn’t working):
The European Commission has determined that the iPhone maker is
not complying with obligations to allow app developers to “steer”
users to offers outside its App Store without imposing fees on
them, according to three people with close knowledge of its
investigation. The charges would be the first brought against a
tech company under the Digital Markets Act, landmark legislation
designed to force powerful “online gatekeepers” to open up their
businesses to competition in the EU.
The commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in March it was
investigating Apple, as well as Alphabet and Meta, under powers
granted by the DMA. An announcement over the charges against Apple
was expected in the coming weeks, said two people with knowledge
of the case. […]
If found to be breaking the DMA, Apple faces daily penalties for
non-compliance of up to 5 per cent of its average daily worldwide
turnover, which is currently just over $1bn.
The EC leaks everything to the Financial Times. Reuters points out that EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager leaves office in November. Makes me wonder if there’s a clock-running-out aspect to this. Does the incoming regime share her politics regarding US tech companies?
Forget about trying to figure out what the EC wants from reading the DMA. It doesn’t say. I suspect they want Apple to completely forgo monetization of its IP on iOS — to allow the distribution of iOS apps without any charge or fee whatsoever other than the $99 annual developer program fee. I’m not sure, at all, how Apple is going to respond, but I do not think the EC going to get that.