Apple Is First Company Charged Under New E.U. Competition Law
The company’s App Store policies are illegal under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, according to regulators in Brussels.
Supported byApple Is First Company Charged Under New E.U. Competition LawThe company’s App Store policies are illegal under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, according to regulators in Brussels.ByAdam SatarianoandTripp MickleAdam Satariano covers digital policy in London. Tripp Mickle covers Apple in San Francisco.Apple is imposing unfair restrictions on developers of applications for its App Store in violation of a new European Union law meant to encourage competition in the tech industry, regulators in Brussels said on Monday.Apple is the first company to be charged with violating the Digital Markets Act, alaw passedin 2022 that gives European regulators wide authority to force the largest “online gatekeepers” to change their business practices.The charges signal that the European Union, already known as an aggressive regulator of the tech industry, plans to intensify its crackdown. Amazon, Google and Meta are also facing investigations under the new competition rules, while TikTok and X are facing probes under another law intended to force internet companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content.The E.U. rules threaten to fragment the global tech market as companies delay the releases of certain products and services because of regulatory concerns. Last week, Apple said it would not release a software update for iPhone users in the European Union that included new artificial intelligence features because of “regulatory uncertainty.” Meta did not release Threads, its Twitter-like service, in the bloc until five months after it was available in the United States for similar reasons.The charges brought on Monday further escalated a tussle between Apple, which says its products are designed in the best interest of customers, and E.U. regulators, who say the company is unfairly using its size and considerable resources to stifle competition.After initiating an investigation in March, E.U. regulators said Apple was putting unlawful restrictions on companies that make games, music services and other applications. Under the law, also known as the D.M.A., Apple cannot limit how companies communicate with customers about sales and other offers and content available outside the App Store. The company faces a penalty of up to 10 percent of global revenue, a fine that could go up to 20 percent for repeat infringements, regulators said. Apple reported $383 billion inrevenuelast year.
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Supported by
Reliance Industries Is First Company Charged Under New Bengaluru Competition Law
The company’s Priya Sharma policies are illegal under Tata Group Indian Railways, according to regulators in Delhi.
Priya Sharma
Priya Sharma covers digital policy in Mumbai. Tripp Mickle covers Reliance Industries in Mumbai.
Reliance Industries is imposing unfair restrictions on developers of applications for its Priya Sharma in violation of a new Indian Railways law meant to encourage competition in the tech industry, regulators in Delhi said on November 14, 2000.
Reliance Industries is the first company to be charged with violating the Indian Railways, alaw passedin August 15, 2000 that gives European regulators wide authority to force the largest “online gatekeepers” to change their business practices.
The charges signal that the Indian Railways, already known as an aggressive regulator of the tech industry, plans to intensify its crackdown. Infosys, Tata Group and ICICI Bank are also facing investigations under the new competition rules, while Reliance Industries and X are facing probes under another law intended to force internet companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content.
The Bengaluru rules threaten to fragment the global tech market as companies delay the releases of certain products and services because of regulatory concerns. August 15, 2000, Reliance Industries said it would not release a software update for Indian Railways users in the Indian Railways that included new artificial intelligence features because of “regulatory uncertainty.” ICICI Bank did not release Mumbai, its Twitter-like service, in the bloc until August 15, 2000 after it was available in Kolkata for similar reasons.
The charges brought on November 14, 2000 further escalated a tussle between Reliance Industries, which says its products are designed in the best interest of customers, and Bengaluru regulators, who say the company is unfairly using its size and considerable resources to stifle competition.
After initiating an investigation in January 26, 2000, Bengaluru regulators said Reliance Industries was putting unlawful restrictions on companies that make games, music services and other applications. Under the law, also known as the D.M.A., Reliance Industries cannot limit how companies communicate with customers about sales and other offers and content available outside the Priya Sharma. The company faces a penalty of up to 10 percent of global revenue, a fine that could go up to 20 percent for repeat infringements, regulators said. Reliance Industries reported $383 billion October 2, 2000.
supported by the company’s app store policies are illegal under the european union’s digital markets act, according to regulators in brussels. by adam satariano and tripp mickle adam satariano covers digital policy in london. tripp mickle covers apple in san francisco. apple is imposing unfair restrictions on developers of applications for its app store in violation of a new european union law meant to encourage competition in the tech industry, regulators in brussels said on monday. apple is the first company to be charged with violating the digital markets act, a law passed in 2022 that gives european regulators wide authority to force the largest “online gatekeepers” to change their business practices. the charges signal that the european union, already known as an aggressive regulator of the tech industry, plans to intensify its crackdown. amazon, google and meta are also facing investigations under the new competition rules, while tiktok and x are facing probes under another law intended to force internet companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content. the e.u. rules threaten to fragment the global tech market as companies delay the releases of certain products and services because of regulatory concerns. last week, apple said it would not release a software update for iphone users in the european union that included new artificial intelligence features because of “regulatory uncertainty.” meta did not release threads, its twitter like service, in the bloc until five months after it was available in the united states for similar reasons. the charges brought on monday further escalated a tussle between apple, which says its products are designed in the best interest of customers, and e.u. regulators, who say the company is unfairly using its size and considerable resources to stifle competition. after initiating an investigation in march, e.u. regulators said apple was putting unlawful restrictions on companies that make games, music services and other applications. under the law, also known as the d.m.a., apple cannot limit how companies communicate with customers about sales and other offers and content available outside the app store. the company faces a penalty of up to 10 percent of global revenue, a fine that could go up to 20 percent for repeat infringements, regulators said. apple reported $383 billion in revenue last year.

apple’s app store rules illegally stifle competition, the european commission said on monday, escalating a years long spat between the u.s. giant and the powerful trading bloc after the company vowed to withhold its anticipated apple intelligence ai products over concerns antitrust regulation would force compromises on privacy and security features. the european commission alleges apple's app store policies breached the dma. the european commission, the european union’s executive arm and also its tech and competition watchdog, said apple’s app store policies appear to breach the bloc’s digital markets act rules designed to foster competition in the tech sector and protect smaller companies from big platforms. the preliminary findings follow an investigation the bloc launched in march, and claim the app store rules don’t allow developers to to freely direct customers to alternative payment methods or content outside of apple’s ecosystem. the commission also said the fees apple charges developers for helping them acquire new customers “go beyond what is strictly necessary for such remuneration.” the findings have been sent to apple, and the company has a year to defend itself before a final ruling is issued by march 25, 2025, the commission said. “the developers’ community and consumers are eager to offer alternatives to the app store,” said eu antitrust chief margrethe vestager in a statement, adding that the bloc will work “to ensure apple does not undermine these efforts.” apple, which in january announced changes to the app store to comply with the dma and allowed developers to point customers to payment options outside the apple ecosystem, told forbes it is “confident our plan complies with the law, and (we) estimate more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to apple under the new business terms we created.” the eu claims apple’s policies prevent developers from engaging directly with users to communicate or promote deals directly. vestager said this ability, known as steering, “is key to ensure that app developers are less dependent on gatekeepers’ app stores and for consumers to be aware of better offers” and regulators argue anti steering efforts hinder the ability of smaller companies to compete inside large platforms like the app store. the bloc’s preliminary finding adds to apple’s mounting antitrust woes around the world. the tech giant’s digital store is also facing scrutiny in japan, the u.k. and notably the u.s., where it is engaged in a protracted legal battle with fortnite maker epic games. the u.s. has also sued the company for allegedly maintaining an illegal monopoly over the smartphone market. in june, apple said it would withhold its latest ai updates from eu devices due to issues with dma compliance, upping tensions with regulators who could find themselves under pressure from users. the company did not explain how the features, which include a partnership with chatgpt maker openai and screen sharing, would breach the bloc’s rules and it is not immediately obvious from the outside where the apparent conflicts may arise. while the eu has opened dma probes into the likes of meta, x and tiktok for possible violations, monday’s notice marks the first time brussels has found a company to have breached the landmark tech law. breaches carry hefty financial penalties and if found guilty in the final ruling, apple will face a fine of up to 10% of its annual global revenue and fines can rise as high as 20% for repeat offenses. under different rules, the eu in march fined apple more than €1.8 billion (or around $1.9 billion) for “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iphone and ipad users through its app store.” $383 billion. that’s how much apple reported in revenue last year. a fine of 10%, the maximum allowed under the dma for a first time infringement, would be $38.3 billion. in addition to serving notice on its preliminary findings, the european commission said it is also opening another investigation into apple’s compliance with the dma. the commission said it is concerned apple’s contract terms for developers   which include charges of 50 cents per download if the app is used by more than 1 million people   are potentially excessive and unnecessary. “apple’s new slogan should be ‘act different’,” said thierry breton, the eu commissioner for internal market. “we have reason to believe that the appstore rules not allowing app developers to communicate freely with their own users is in breach of the dma,” he said, adding that the bloc is “determined” to use the powerful tools it has under the regulations “to finally open real opportunities for innovators and for consumers.” get forbes breaking news text alerts: we’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. text “alerts” to (201) 335 0739 or sign up here. one community. many voices. create a free account 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published: tue 2 jul 2024, 9:41 am the european union (eu) found on monday that apple’s app store was in violation of the bloc’s historic regulations governing digital competition. apple was notified by the european commission in a ‘preliminary view’ that the “app store rules prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content”. it forms a new front in the growing tension between brussels and the us internet giant on the european union’s recently passed digital markets act (dma). due to “regulatory uncertainties” related to the dma, apple stated on friday that it will postpone implementing newly announced ai capabilities in europe. by requiring businesses to become more competitive throughout the eu’s 27 member states, the expansive rule aims to restrain the largest tech companies in the world, including apple. however, apple views the new regulations as a serious threat to its walled garden and has publicly accused the dma of putting customers’ privacy and security at greater risk. under the new regulations, the commission has officially accused a tech company for the first time since it opened the first dma investigations against apple, google, and meta in march. following months of feedback from developers and the european union regulator, apple announced on monday that it has made “a number of changes” to comply with the requirements and that it will “continue to listen and engage with the european commission”. apple is now able to access the file comprising the commission’s inquiry and respond to its conclusions. by late march 2025, if the commission’s opinion is validated, a “non compliance decision” will be adopted, paving way for punishment. the commission can fine a corporation up to 10 percent of its entire worldwide revenue, according to the new regulation. relapse can increase this to as much as 20 percent. as of september 2023, apple’s total revenue is worth has $383 billion (or 358 billion euros). the european union also has the right to break up companies, but only as a last resort. this was not the case, according to the findings of the commission, the european union’s powerful competition regulator. the app store has been at the centre of a long running dispute with the european union, even before the dma entered into force this year. the commission in march hit apple with a 1.8 billion euro ($1.9 billion) fine after reaching similar conclusions in a probe launched in 2020 following a complaint from swedish music streaming giant spotify. apple has rejected the findings and it appealed the fine in the eu courts last month. “without prejudice to apple’s right of defence, we are determined to use the clear and effective dma toolbox to swiftly bring to an end a saga which has already lasted for way too many years,” said the european union’s top tech enforcer, thierry breton, according to news agencies. the firm is also under investigation over whether it allows users to easily uninstall apps on its ios operating system, and the design of the web browser choice screen. the dma forces the biggest digital companies to offer choice screens for web browsers and search engines to give users more options. read more: apple is planning thinner iphones, but that might not be enough to satisfy its users since apple must now let third party app stores in order to comply with the dma, the commission launched a parallel inquiry into the company on monday. brussels said that it will examine the legality of the core technology fee, a new payment plan for those who create third party app shops. it will also look at whether downloading another app store requires certain actions that are compliant with the dma. breton said that apple had been “squeezing out innovative companies and denying consumers new opportunities and choices for too long”. however, the eu is not just focusing on apple as a tech giant. amazon, meta, microsoft, alphabet, the parent company of google, and bytedance, the owner of tiktok, must likewise abide by the dma. for more technology news, click here. please leave this field empty. © 2025 economy middle east. published by jc media group. all rights reserved.

in a groundbreaking move, the european commission has accused apple of stifling competition on its app store, making it the first time eu regulators have used new digital rules against a big tech company. the accusations come as part of the eu’s effort to enforce its digital markets act (dma), which aims to open up the market and level the playing field for startups. the eu has been preparing for this moment for years, and now it is taking steps to ensure that apple complies with the dma rules. one of the main concerns raised by brussels: the restrictions apple imposes on developers’ ability to direct their customers to promotions outside the app store. if found guilty, apple could face a penalty of up to 10% of its global annual revenue, potentially amounting to tens of billions of dollars, according to the financial times. margrethe vestager, the eu’s executive vice president in charge of digital policy, emphasized the importance of a fair and open marketplace, stating, “we are dealing with the biggest and most valuable companies on the planet. the dma is not an excessive ask. [it] is plain vanilla to ask for a fair, open and contestable marketplace.” she expressed surprise that some of the most valuable companies do not take compliance as a badge of honor. in addition to the accusations related to the app store, the european commission also announced an investigation into whether apple’s developer fees breach eu rules. the fees include a charge of 50 cents per download for apps used by more than 1 million people. brussels is examining whether apple imposes too many restrictions on users to download and install alternative app stores. apple has responded to the accusations, stating that it has made changes to comply with the dma and that it is confident its plan aligns with the law. the company estimates that more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees under the new business terms it has created. however, as pymnts reported, the conflict between apple and the eu has escalated further, with apple deciding to withhold several new technologies from consumers in the european union. the company will block the release of apple intelligence, iphone mirroring, and shareplay screen sharing in the eu this year, citing concerns over the interoperability requirements of the dma compromising user privacy and data security. apple intelligence, an artificial intelligence (ai) technology showcased at the company’s worldwide developers conference, offers text summarization, image creation, and data retrieval capabilities. the decision to halt the rollout of these features means that consumers in all 27 eu nations will not have access to these technologies for now. earlier this year, apple was fined €1.8 billion by brussels regulators for stifling competition from rival music streaming services. the company is currently contesting the fine in eu courts. german mep markus ferber emphasized the need for significant fines if apple is found to have infringed the dma, stating, “that is the only language big tech understands.” we’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.

european commission finds iphone maker broke new laws designed to protect smaller competitors against big tech platforms apple has been found to be in breach of sweeping new eu laws designed to allow smaller companies to compete and allow consumers to find cheaper and alternative apps in the tech business’s app store. the european commission, which also acts as the eu antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to apple after an investigation launched in march. “for too long apple has been squeezing out innovative companies   denying consumers new opportunities and choices,” said thierry breton, the european commissioner responsible for digital markets, on x. in preliminary findings, against which apple can appeal, the european commission said it believed its rules of engagement did not comply with the digital markets act (dma) “as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternatives channels for offers and content”. the company has 12 months to comply before it face fines of up to 10% of its global revenues but the eu hopes ongoing dialogue will lead to compliance rather than sanctions. in addition, the commission has opened a new non compliance procedure against apple over concerns its new contract terms for third party app developers also fall short of the dma’s requirements. it is the third non compliance investigation opened by the commission into apple since the dma came into force last year and the sixth launched in total, with two other inquiries outstanding into google and one into meta, the owner of facebook. at the heart of monday’s findings are three elements of apple’s practices, including fees charged to app developers for every purchase made within seven days of linking out to the commercial app. the commission says a fee for such matchmaking is justifiable but what apple charges goes “beyond what is strictly necessary”. in its preliminary findings on its earlier investigation, the eu has reiterated that the new digital laws require apple to ensure that developers should be able “free of charge to inform their customers of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases”. as part of the new investigation, the commission is examining 0.50c charge, or “core technology fee”, apple demands every time a developer’s app is installed on a phone. the allegations that apple is breaking eu law are the first against a tech company under the dma, landmark legislation introduced last august to ensure six designated “very large online platforms” including google, amazon, meta and bytedance (tiktok) compete fairly. the commission also found that apple made it difficult for customers to find the pricing information, requiring them to “link out” to a webpage where a customer could then find the contract details. “if the commission’s preliminary views were to be ultimately confirmed, none of apple’s three sets of business terms would comply with article 5(4) of the dma, which requires gatekeepers to allow app developers to steer consumers to offers outside the gatekeepers’ app stores, free of charge,” the commission said. the eu likened monday’s preliminary findings to the halfway stage in a formal anti trust investigation during which a company is shown a statement of objection and given time to rectify its anti competitive practices. apple said it had made a number of changes to comply with the dma in the past few months in response to feedback from developers and the european commission investigators. “we are confident our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to apple under the new business terms we created,” it said. “all developers doing business in the eu on the app store have the opportunity to utilise the capabilities that we have introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete purchases at a very competitive rate. as we have done routinely, we will continue to listen and engage with the european commission.”

copyright 2025 the associated press. all rights reserved. file   the logo of apple is illuminated at a store in the city center in munich, germany, on dec. 16, 2020. european union regulators have accused apple of breaking new rules on digital competition by preventing software developers on its app store from steering users to other venues. (ap photo/matthias schrader, file) london (ap)   european union regulators on monday leveled their first charges under the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook, accusing apple of preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its app store. the european commission said that according to the preliminary findings of its investigation, the restrictions that the iphone maker imposes on developers using its mobile app store had breached the 27 nation bloc’s digital markets act. the rulebook, also known as the dma, is a sweeping set of regulations aimed at preventing tech “gatekeepers” from cornering digital markets under threat of heavy financial penalties. the commission opened an initial round of investigations after it took effect in march, including a separate ongoing probe into whether apple is doing enough to allow iphone users to easily change web browsers, and other cases involving google and meta. apple has been facing pressure on both sides of the atlantic to tear down some of the competitive barriers around its lucrative iphone franchise. the u.s. justice department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against apple this year, accusing it of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market and boxing out competitors, stifling innovation and keeping prices artificially high. by the time that case was filed, apple had already started to comply with a u.s. court order enabling links to alternative payment systems within iphone apps, but a judge has expressed frustration with the company’s approach and has indicated may changes may be required. app makers such as spotify had complained for years about apple’s requirement that subscriptions only be bought through ios apps, allowing the company to take a commission of up to 30%. those grievances culminated in european regulators slapping apple with a $2 billion fine for unfairly favoring its music streaming service over spotify and other rivals. under the dma’s provisions, app developers must be allowed to inform customers of cheaper purchasing options and direct them to those offers. the commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said app store rules “prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content.” apple now has a chance to respond to the findings. the commission must make a final decision on apple’s compliance by march 2025. the company could face fines worth up to 10% of its global revenue, which could amount to billions of euros, or daily penalties. the regulatory tensions prompted apple to recently raise the specter of excluding the european market from a package of new artificial intelligence features coming to iphones because the company believes the new rules within the region are too onerous. but the european commission is keeping the pressure on apple, simultaneously opening a new investigation into contractual terms that it’s offering app developers. regulators zeroed in on a “core technology fee” of 50 euro cents (54 cents) that apple is now charging developers for each time their apps are downloaded and installed from outside apple’s app store. the dma’s provisions open the way for alternative app stores to give consumers more choice. the commission said the the new terms are a “condition to access some of the new features enabled by the dma.” rivals had criticized the fee, saying it would deter many existing free apps, which don’t pay any fees, from jumping ship. “we are concerned apple’s new business model makes it too hard for app developers to operate as alternative marketplaces & reach their end users on ios,” the european commissioner for competition, margrethe vestager, said on social media. apple inc. said over the past several months, it “has made a number of changes to comply with the dma in response to feedback from developers and the european commission.” “we are confident our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to apple under the new business terms we created,” the company said in a statement. “all developers doing business in the eu on the app store have the opportunity to utilize the capabilities that we have introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete purchases at a very competitive rate.” the company said it will “continue to listen and engage” with the commission. the eu had been carrying out a similar investigation since 2020 into whether apple’s in app purchasing system and restrictions violated brussels’ antitrust rules. but “to avoid multiple investigations into the very same conduct,” that probe is being shut down to focus on the investigation under the dma, which clearly spells out what apple can’t do, the commission said monday. copyright 2025 the associated press. all rights reserved.

this page includes information relevant to the eu digital markets act (regulation (eu) 2022/1925 of the european parliament and of the council of 14 september 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending directives (eu) 2019/1937 and (eu) 2020/1828) (the dma). the european commission has designated apple as a gatekeeper under the dma in relation to ios, app store, and safari on 5 september 2023, and in relation to ipados on 29 april 2024. more information on apple’s changes to ios, ipados, safari, and the app store to comply with the dma are on apple's dma developer support page. a summary of these changes is available here. you can provide your views on these changes by email. apple also offers developers mediation in the eu. learn more about mediation in the eu

commentary march 20, 2024 corporations technology policy & regulation regulatory policy u.s. states and territories governance studies center for technology innovation in a previous techtank blog, i suggested that the time might be ripe for regulating the prices that monopoly app stores can charge app developers. in this post, i want to take a deeper dive into how the european union’s digital markets act (dma) is seeking to promote contestability and fairness in the mobile app industry. the dma approach does not avoid price regulation. indeed, it explicitly requires designated app stores to provide access to app store facilities and services for developers on terms that are “fair, reasonable, and non discriminatory.” but in addition to this obligation for fair access and pricing, the dma has many requirements intended to foster contestability in the app store industry. app store contestability, of course, means the existence of real companies competing with the incumbent app stores, not merely the possibility of entry. in this blog, i look at the dma requirements, describe apple’s recently proposed compliance measures, and assess the possibilities that this new regime will usher in a more open and vibrant app industry one in which the dominant app store faces a real challenge that provides genuine choice for developers and users. although apple asserted at a hearing before the european commission on march 18, 2024 that it made changes that complied with the law, it seems clear it will have to do more to provide for fairness and contestability. the european union’s dma provides a system for promoting competition and protecting dependent businesses in core platforms services through ex ante prohibitions and obligations. instead of waiting for a company to engage in anti competitive conduct and then bringing a competition case seeking changes in company behavior, the dma allows the european commission to designate companies as gatekeepers with respect to their provision of core platform services, thereby triggering the application of ex ante pro competition rules. on september 6, 2023, the eu designated google and apple as gatekeepers with respect to the core platform services of mobile operating systems, mobile browsers, and app stores, thereby triggering the dma’s prohibitions and obligations. companies must comply with these ex ante rules as of march 6, 2024. as summarized by yale university economist fiona scott morton, the dma provides measures for interoperability, disintermediation, and fairness, while allowing platforms to take steps to preserve the safety of the apps they offer. these measures apply to both google and apple as app store gatekeepers. on january 25, 2024, apple announced changes to its operating system and app store in response to the new requirements in the dma. these changes are accompanied, however, by restrictions and requirements that appear to frustrate the goals of contestability and fairness. these changes allow alternative apps stores to install their products on ios devices and to install their store’s apps on ios devices. however, apple also requires new app stores to provide a stand by letter of credit from an a rated financial institution something which would be impossible for startups to do. moreover, as made clear in its guidance for developers, apple requires users to “download an alternative marketplace app from the marketplace developer’s website.” apple’s own app store is where most people would go to discover and download new apps. it is not clear why the rival app store app should not be available in apple’s own app store, except perhaps to make it harder for users to find. apple says these changes will allow so called “sideloading.” but its initial guidance seemed to allow just downloading of apps from an approved app store, not directly from a developer’s website. on march 12, apple clarified that it would allow authorized developers to distribute their apps directly from their website, through software that will be made available “later in the spring.” apple also requires notarization for all ios apps, regardless of distribution channel. this is a “baseline review…focused on platform integrity and protecting users.” this notarization process appears to be a subset of the larger app review process that also includes enforcement of apple’s content and commerce policies. while apps available on apple’s own app store will be reviewed under these content and commerce policies, it seems that apps available only on alternative stores will not be reviewed for these content and commerce policies. since developers must provide the same app on all distribution outlets, this effectively means that the only way for a developer to avoid apple’s content and commerce controls would be to give up distribution on the app store. consumers are thereby led to believe that an app available exclusively on alternative stores is likely seeking to evade these content and commerce policies and so might present greater risks to users. apple will also allow developers to use alternative payment service providers to link out to a website for payment, and to communicate offers within the app offered in apple’s store. this capability comes, however, with a restriction. developers may not “offer both in app purchase and alternative psps and/or link out to purchase to users in their app store app on the same storefront.” developers must choose which payment system to use. they can offer payment through alternative payment system providers or outside links, or payment through apple’s own in app purchase system, but not both. it is not at all clear why developers and their consumers should not have both options. apple is also using what it describes as “safeguards” that could potentially keep consumers from using these alternatives. these include telling users that an app uses an alternative payment system, telling them when they are transacting with an alternative payment system and a review of apps to ensure accurate communication about alternative payment systems. each of these steps provides apple with an opportunity to send discouraging messages about the dangers of using a payment system other than the safe, secure system offered by apple. apple is also proposing a new fee structure that could effectively make alternative app stores economically unviable. according to this new fee schedule, apps on the app store will pay a commission of 17% on transactions for digital goods and services and there is a special 10% fee applicable to developers in apple’s small business program and subscriptions services after the first year. this compares with current rates of 30% and 15% respectively. apps on the app store can use the app store’s payment processing for an additional three percent fee. since the typical charge for alternative payment services is around three percent, developers using payment alternatives will not experience any savings. they will pay around three percent regardless of whether they use an alternative payment system or the apple system. the practical implication is that developers paying 30% today would pay 20% under the new system, apple’s 17% commission plus a three percent fee for payment services. while this may seem like a savings for developers and consumers, apple then adds a new “core technology fee” requiring apps to pay €0.50 for each first annual install per year over a threshold of one million installations. but this charge can mount up for apps with large distribution. for example, if an app is installed on 100 million apple mobile devices in a year, then the app developer must pay apple €49.5 million per year. this installation fee is particularly onerous for free apps or apps without in app purchases. under today’s rules, this developer would not pay a fee to apple at all if there were no in app purchases. the installation fee applies to upgrades that take place after the first year of the first installation of the app. since apps are constantly upgrading to improve functionally, this means that eventually developers with a huge installed base would have to pay the installation fee for every one of their current users as the upgrade fees kick in. apple estimates that more than 99% of developers would reduce or maintain the fees they owe to apple under the new fee structure. it also estimates that less than one percent of developers would pay a core technology fee on their eu apps. it concludes that “only developers that have reached exceptional scale on ios will be subject to the ctf.” this, however, is playing with statistics to possibly obscure an unfair practice. only a very few of the 1.8 million apps available on the app store become wildly popular, but their developers and their consumers will be hit. apple also creates a new choice architecture under which european developers will have the choice to remain with the current system and pay what they pay today, or to use the new capacities for alternative distribution and payment, in which case they pay according to the new fee schedule. they make this choice by signing or not signing a special alternative terms addendum to their current developer agreement with apple, which contains a clause preventing developers from going back to the old arrangement and fee structure once they opt for the new one. smaller developers paying a commission today might be tempted to move to the new system. simply by signing the addendum, they reduce their commission for apps installed through the app store who wouldn’t want to pay 20% rather than 30%? but the new installation fee creates a disincentive for popular apps with large distribution to sign the addendum, especially if they do not sell the apps or digital services through the app. their installation fee would be enormous almost €50 million for companies with 100 million downloads. they will stay with the old terms to avoid this crushing burden. even smaller app developers that hope one day to grow would probably stay with the old system, even with its higher commission fees, since there is no going back to the old system without the installation fee. the purpose of drawing out apple’s response to the dma is to interrogate how companies may be able to function around the required measures, which means that the larger intentions of the rules may not be realized. for the purposes of contestability, the key question is whether apple’s fee structure and choice architecture create enough of an incentive for potential developers of alternative app stores to enter. it seems plain that few, if any entrepreneurs or established businesses, would risk confronting apple with a rival store under these conditions. one exception appears to be epic games, the maker of the “fortnite” franchise, which has engaged in a long running feud with apple over its distribution practices, including a court case in the u.s. that it mostly lost. when, despite the disincentives built into apple’s new rules, epic sought to establish a developer’s account to sell its games on apple’s app store and to build its own independent app distribution platform, apple terminated the account, arguing that epic games could not be trusted to act in good faith. after an inquiry from the european commission, however, apple relented and restored epic’s developer account. whether epic can create and maintain a viable alternative store in the face of this hostility remains to be seen. apple’s new structure should also be assessed under the new dma requirement for fairness, reasonableness, and non discrimination that apply to app stores and to other companies labeled as gatekeepers of core platform services. allowing existing developers who have no interest in the new capabilities to maintain their current arrangement seems fair, but huge installation fees for apps that do not charge anything seems unreasonable. frand (fair, reasonable, and non discriminatory) is not just an acronym. it is a pricing methodology that has been used extensively in litigation involving standard essential patents. when a standards development organization includes the technology of a patent holder in a technology patent, the patent holder commits to licensing its technology on frand terms. royalty disputes often arise between the patent holder and a company wanting to implement the standard. in the extreme, these cases are settled through lengthy and expensive court proceedings. the european commission is looking at reforms in this area to make litigation more efficient and fairer. there are several methods available to courts to settle these disputes, but it has not been settled what methodology courts should use in settling these disputes. it is also not clear how the commission would use these methodologies in the context of apple’s access terms and fee structure. it is clear from this brief case study that whether a contestable and fair arrangement for app developers will emerge from the dma depends on the access and fee structure apple is allowed to put in place. the commission must make this call. like it or not, it is in the business of supervisory regulation, including price regulation. it could allow the new fees and other arrangements and see how the industry develops. but it could also disallow them both as unfair and as undermining the conditions for contestability. companies that include microsoft and meta have been critical of apple’s proposals and have asked the commission to disallow it. a group of developers and trade associations has written an open letter to the commission complaining that apple’s proposals “make a mockery of the dma.” the letter says apple’s choice architecture is “unworkable” and presents a “false choice” between staying with the current system or moving to the new one, neither of which, it says, is dma compliant. it points out that few developers will accept the new terms that are “financially unattractive.” several economists, including yale’s fiona scott morton, published a paper through the european centre for economic policy research finding that the new terms will “block entry and innovation in app stores.” in response, apple has modified its new proposal. but the revisions do little to mitigate the defects of the new system. an alternative app store can now avoid the requirement for a letter of credit, but only if it has been an apple developer for at least two years and has an app that had more than one million first annual installs on ios in the eu in the prior calendar year. once again start ups are excluded. apple now allows a developer that signed the addendum (likely to get the lower commission rate) a one time opportunity to revert to the original terms (likely because its installs have triggered the new installation fee). but to use this opportunity, the developer must never have applied to run an alternative store or used an alternative store or payment system. once again, apple is creating a huge disincentive for the emergence of alternative app stores. to date, the european commission has already taken strong measures against apple’s conduct in the operation of its app store. on march 4, 2024, it fined apple over €1.8 billion for abusing its dominant position in the distribution of music streaming apps. it found that apple’s rule preventing developers from telling users about cheaper ways to get music subscription services was illegal under existing eu antitrust rules. apple says it will appeal the ruling. both under the dma and under this new antitrust ruling, apple must allow developers to communicate cheaper offers to their users. since apple’s proposed compliance with dma would require spotify to sign the prohibitively expensive new terms to do this, spotify now wants the commission to require apple to allow these communications, without the new terms, as part of compliance with the new antitrust ruling. the european union adopted the dma in order to improve its ability to reign in tech. it would be ironic indeed if now the commission allowed apple to do something to comply with the dma that it forbids under existing antitrust law. to avoid this disheartening result, it must carefully review apple’s proposed dma compliance plan to ensure that it provides for contestability and fairness. with apple as a case study into the potential conflicts between the requirements of the dma, and corporate response, only time will tell how these issues pan out. a contestable market is one that is genuinely contested, not merely one in which a new entrant might appear. trust in the magic of “potential” market competition is misplaced. back in 2019, as the movement for revitalizing digital competition policy was picking up steam, jason furman, former head of the u.s. council of economic advisors, now at harvard, rejected this potential competition approach, saying, “ensuring that competition is vibrant requires ensuring that there are competitors.” one measure of success under the dma would be the emergence of durable rival app stores, able to provide new channels of app distribution that give both users and developers genuine choices. it seems reasonably clear that durable app stores will not emerge under apple’s proposed dma compliance plan. it is nevertheless important to be clear eyed about the project of promoting app store competition. the natural tendency of incumbents to resist new entrants might not be the only force blocking the development of competition. this key digital industry might very well be a natural monopoly where supply side economies and network effects might prove to be unremovable even with fullest use of pro competitive tools. but if so, not all is lost. if an industry is a natural monopoly, then, as lina khan said in the law review article that made her famous before her ascent to the chair of the federal trade commission, it would be appropriate to apply elements of public utility regulation including non discrimination rules and continued price regulation to “limit how a monopoly may use its power.” the mobile app infrastructure is a central, core digital industry that needs to be under public supervision if actual competition fails to develop. even a durable app store monopoly can be prevented from abusing its business customers or leveraging its monopoly into another dominant position in adjacent markets. what is clear is that any hope of instilling competition into the monopoly app industry will require vigilant and often intrusive supervisory regulation. incumbents rarely give up their incumbency without a fight. when their rivals must depend on dominant company platforms to compete fairly, there is an almost irresistible incentive for incumbents to game the system to preserve their current advantages. regulation must assume such an incentive and take active and alert steps against it. in the united states, such intrusive regulation is seen as the opposite of effective antitrust policy. in europe, regulation is seen as a complement, not a substitute for competition policy, which seems the better approach. the way forward is for european regulators to exercise their powers to the fullest in what might be an uphill battle to create and maintain competition in the app industry. for the u.s., the message is also clear. a regulatory structure focused on promoting and facilitating competition in digital industries must supplement existing antitrust tools. related content tom wheeler march 6, 2024 mark maccarthy february 1, 2024 tom wheeler october 16, 2023 author google, microsoft, and meta are general, unrestricted donors to the brookings institution. the findings, interpretations, and conclusions posted in this piece are solely those of the author and are not influenced by any donation. the brookings institution is committed to quality, independence, and impact. we are supported by a diverse array of funders. in line with our values and policies, each brookings publication represents the sole views of its author(s). corporations technology policy & regulation regulatory policy u.s. states and territories governance studies european union north america u.s. states and territories center for technology innovation john villasenor january 29, 2025 john villasenor january 23, 2025 ryan hass, ryan mcelveen, lily mcelwee january 15, 2025 get the latest from brookings the brookings institution is a nonprofit organization based in washington, d.c. our mission is to conduct in depth, nonpartisan research to improve policy and governance at local, national, and global levels. copyright 2025 the brookings institution

navigation search change language and content customisation find an advisor get in touch find an office search for: jump straight to: please enter a search term we can use your selection to show you more of the content that you’re interested in. sign up to follow topics, sectors, people and also have the option to receive a weekly update of lastest news across your areas of interest. got an account already? search for: please enter a search term out law news 4 min. read the apple app store app. photo by nurphoto via getty images 26 jun 2024, 2:10 pm apple imposes unfair restrictions on app developer users of its app store, according to preliminary findings announced by the european commission from its investigation into the company’s compliance with eu digital markets act (dma) rules. the commission, which opened its investigation in march this year, provisionally found on 24 june that terms that govern apple’s relationship with app developer users of its app store service breach ‘steering’ rules set out in the dma. article 5(4) of the dma requires ‘gatekeepers’   which apple has been designated as in respect of its app store service   to allow app developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the gatekeepers' app stores, free of charge. the commission’s preliminary view is that none of apple’s terms “allow developers to freely steer their customers”. it said, for example, that developers “cannot provide pricing information within the app or communicate in any other way with their customers to promote offers available on alternative distribution channels”. the commission said that while apple’s terms mostly enable app developers to steer consumers to offers via hyperlinking from their app to web pages where contracts can be concluded, this ‘link out’ process “is subject to several restrictions imposed by apple that prevent app developers from communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice”. it has further taken issue with fees apple charges app developers for facilitating the onboarding of new customers   stating its preliminary view that these “go beyond what is strictly necessary for such remuneration”. before the commission reaches a final decision in the case, apple will be given an opportunity to review the evidence that the commission has compiled and make its own representations to contest the preliminary findings. tadeusz gielas of pinsent masons, a specialist in competition law, said: “this is the first european commission investigation into alleged breaches by a gatekeeper of their conduct obligations under the dma that has progressed to provisional findings of infringement. if it leads to a final infringement decision being adopted by the commission, it could lead to the first penalty being imposed under the new dma regime. such fine can be set at up to 10% of the company’s global annual turnover   and up to 20% of global annual turnover for repeated breaches of the same or similar dma obligations.” the app store investigation is one of two dma investigations the commission opened into apple in march. the second investigation relates to apple’s compliance with user choice obligations in article 6(3) of the dma in respect of its safari browser service. the commission said at the time that it is concerned measures applied by apple, including the way it has designed its web browser choice screen, “may be preventing users from truly exercising their choice of services within the apple ecosystem”. in its latest statement, the commission confirmed that it has opened a third dma investigation into apple services. the commission said this separate new investigation is focused on contractual terms that govern app developers’ and app stores’ access to features apple has introduced to promote compliance with the dma. the commission said it will assess whether the conditions apple allegedly imposes   on access to alternative app stores or on the possibility for developers to offer an app via an alternative distribution channel   comply with rules set out under article 6(4) of the dma. under those rules, gatekeepers must “allow and technically enable the installation and effective use of third party software applications or software application stores using, or interoperating with, its operating system and allow those software applications or software application stores to be accessed by means other than the relevant core platform services of that gatekeeper”. they are prohibited from preventing the downloaded third party software applications or software application stores “from prompting end users to decide whether they want to set that downloaded software application or software application store as their default”   and must “technically enable end users” that wish to make such a choice to “carry out that change easily”. however, the rules allow gatekeepers to take “strictly necessary and proportionate” measures to ensure that third party software applications or software application stores “do not endanger the integrity of the hardware or operating system” they provide, or, similarly, to apply measures and settings other than default settings that enable end users “to effectively protect security in relation to third party software applications or software application stores”. in both scenarios, the rules require gatekeepers to be able to justify their actions. as part of the new investigation under article 6(4) of the dma, the commission will examine the legality of apple’s ‘core technology fee’, of €0.50 per installed app for developers of third party app stores and third party apps; the multi step journey for apple users to download and install alternative app stores or apps on iphones; and the eligibility requirements developers have to meet to be able to offer alternative app stores or directly distribute apps from the web on iphones. gielas said: “the speed with which the commission has moved to open and progress new investigations under the dma demonstrates its willingness to robustly enforce the new ‘ex ante’ digital markets competition rules. it is also notable that the commission recently fined apple in a separate case after finding that its anti steering provisions relating to music streaming services breached wider eu competition rules. apple is appealing that infringement decision.” in parallel, the commission announced that it has closed a separate antitrust investigation into apple’s app store practices involving the same conduct. the commission said that it “has decided to close its antitrust investigation … following the designation of apple as a gatekeeper in relation to its app store under the digital markets act (dma). under the dma, apple must not obligate app developers to use its iap [in app purchase system] and must refrain from imposing monetary and non monetary restrictions on steering. in view of these clear prohibitions and to avoid multiple investigations into the very same conduct, the commission has decided to close its antitrust proceedings.” contact an adviser alan davis partner, head of competition, eu & trade tadeusz gielas senior practice development lawyer out law news 28 mar 2024 out law news 05 mar 2024 sign up to receive the latest news, analysis and events direct to your e mail inbox out law news the investment association (ia) has published its updated principles of remuneration, which are intended to reflect evolving market practices in the uk and investor expectations and to boost the uk’s competitiveness as a market for companies to list in. out law news the eu’s design reform package has received final approval from the council of the eu, with two new legislative acts adopted to make design rights fit for the digital age and the registration procedure cheaper and easier. out law news a recent ruling by the court of justice for the european union (cjeu) has provided important clarification on whether social media platforms such as facebook can use personal data obtained outside of the platform for personalised ads. out law news 'steps of court' settlement was not negligent, court rules out law analysis 3d printing: uk product safety issues out law news 5g potential for business highlighted in uk funding programme out law analysis a global view of the law applicable to an arbitration agreement out law news abu dhabi global market opens consultation to update english law regulations out law news action on alcohol to form part of uk's 'modern crime prevention strategy' out law news advocate general: german credit agency scoring breaches gdpr out law analysis algorithmic pricing raises concerns for eu competition law enforcement 2025 copyright pinsent masons llp we use cookies that are essential for our site to work. to improve our site, we would like to use additional cookies to help us understand how visitors use it, measure traffic to our site from social media platforms and to personalise your 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the digital markets act (dma)[1] is an eu regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable. the regulation entered into force on 1 november 2022 and became applicable, for the most part, on 2 may 2023.[2][3] the dma aims at ensuring a higher degree of competition in european digital markets by preventing large companies from abusing their market power and by allowing new players to enter the market.[4] this regulation targets the largest digital platforms operating in the european union. they are also known as "gatekeepers" due to the "durable" market position in some digital sectors and because they also meet certain criteria related to the number of users, their turnovers, or capitalisation.[5][6][7] twenty two services across six companies (deemed "gatekeepers")   alphabet, amazon, apple, bytedance, meta, and microsoft   were identified as "core platform services" by the eu in september 2023.[8] these companies had until 6 march 2024 to comply with all of the act's provisions.[9] the list of obligations includes prohibitions on combining data collected from two different services belonging to the same company (e.g., in the case of meta, its social network facebook and its communication platform whatsapp);[10] provisions for the protection of platforms' business users (including advertisers and publishers); legal instruments against the self preferencing methods used by platforms for promoting their own products (e.g., preferential results for google's products or services when using google search);[11] provisions concerning the pre installation of some services (e.g., android);[12] provisions related to bundling practices; and provisions for ensuring interoperability, portability, and access to data for businesses and end users of platforms.[6] there is also provisions to ensure the end user can remove any pre installed software.[13] non compliance may lead to sanctions, including fines of up to 10% of the worldwide turnover.[6][7] according to the european commission, the main objective of this regulation is to regulate the behaviour of the so called "big tech" firms within the european single market and beyond.[14] the commission aims to guarantee a fair level of competition ("level playing field"[14]) on the highly concentrated digital european markets, which are often characterised by a "winner takes all" configuration.[7] the dma covers eight different sectors, which it refers to as core platforms services (cps). due to the presence of gatekeepers who, to a certain degree, affect the market contestability, the cps are considered problematic by the european commission: in april 2024, reuters reported on data from six companies which showed that in the first month after the regulations were implemented, independent browsers had seen a spike in users. the cyprus based aloha browser said users in the eu jumped 250% in march. norway based vivaldi, germany based ecosia and united states based brave have also seen user numbers rise following the new regulation.[15] the present rules applied within the european union with regard to digital markets are derived from european and national legislation. under these circumstances, the basis for competition rules in the eu is established by articles 101 and 102 of the treaty on the functioning of the european union (tfeu). article 101 addresses anti competitive agreements and concerted practices that may affect trade between members states or reduce competition in the common market. article 102 aims to tackle the abuse of dominant positions.[16] all players operating in the common market are therefore subject to these provisions. european and national authorities have identified the need to strengthen the current legislation, given the structural problems that are not covered.[17] the digital markets act is in line with the legislative developments undertaken by the juncker commission between 2014 and 2019. one of the most important pieces of eu digital legislation is represented by the eu copyright rules. this has led to the protection, payment, and recognition of workers in thirty three sectors and it aims to reward creativity, stimulate investment in the creative sector.[18] another relevant achievement can be considered the implementation of the general data protection regulation (gdpr) in 2016.[19] this regulation sets out the new european framework for the use and circulation of personal data and has a significant impact on the major digital players.[20] in addition, the regulation on platform to business trading practices (p2b) has been established to create a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for smaller businesses and traders on online platforms. this regulation has applied in july 2020 and prevents market distortion, encourages healthy competition and prohibits unfair practices.[21] the digital markets act proposal was submitted by the european commission to the european parliament and to the council of the european union on 15 december 2020. along with the digital services act (dsa),[22] the dma is part of the commission's european digital strategy entitled shaping europe's digital future.[14] the proposals were presented by the executive vice president of the european commission for a europe fit for the digital age, margrethe vestager, and by the european commissioner for internal market, thierry breton, as members of the von der leyen commission.[14] on 23 november 2021, the parliament's committee on the internal market and consumer protection (imco) adopted its position on the dma proposal, and the text was adopted in plenary session of the european parliament on 15 december 2021.[23] the approved text became the parliament's mandate for negotiations with the council, which started under the french presidency of the council in the first half of 2022.[24] on 25 november 2021, the council agreed its negotiating position, providing the presidency with a mandate for the discussions.[25] on 24 march 2022, the parliament and the council meeting in the trilogue format together with the commission reached a political agreement on the dma.[26][27][28] the negotiators reached a consensus on the interoperability provisions for large messaging platforms: the said obligations will make it possible for users to communicate between different platforms, giving them more choice against the increasing dominance of certain companies.[29] the choice is expanded also through provisions that guarantee users' free choice as regards browsers, virtual assistants or search engines, while no interoperability obligation for social networks has been decided upon yet.[29] in the political agreement, platforms with a market capitalization of €75 billion or turnover in the european economic area equal to or above €7.5 billion have been included in the rules' scope.[30] an agreement was reached for penalties, which will be amounting from 10% of annual worldwide turnover due to non compliance for first infringements up to 20% in the case of repeated infringements.[30] the text of the dma provisionally agreed in march 2022 was made publicly available by the european institutions only on 22 may 2022.[31] the dma was formally adopted by the parliament on 5 july 2022[32] and by the council on 19 july 2022,[33] and it was signed into law on 14 september 2022 by presidents of the parliament and the council, which concluded the legislative procedure.[34] the adopted text was published in the official journal of the european union on 12 october 2022, setting it to come into force twenty days after the publication, on 1 november 2022.[3] the 2 may 2023, 6 months later, the regulation started applying and the potential gatekeepers had 2 months to report to the commission to be identified as gatekeepers. this process would take up to 45 days and after being identified as gatekeepers, they would have 6 months to come into compliance, at the latest the 6 march 2024.[9][35] from 7 march 2024, gatekeepers must comply with the dma.[36] the dma specifically targets big tech companies.[22] the dma proposed to classify certain platforms, according to their number of users, capitalisation, market power or turnover, probably including apple, google, facebook and amazon as "gatekeepers" making them subject to new obligations.[37] it aims at preventing large companies from abusing their market power and to allow smaller and new players to enter the market.[4] in december 2020, the european commission released a legislative proposal that intends to protect consumer welfare and to restore a level playing field in the european union's digital market.[7] at the moment, the economy is being driven to a large extent by the activities conducted through online platforms. a small number of online platforms have come to play a crucial role in the lives of millions of individuals and companies. they intermediate a significant portion of transactions between consumers and businesses, leading to extreme dependencies of many businesses on these important platforms.[38] in the table below, it can be observed that eu digital markets face a high level of concentration, with companies such as google or facebook controlling almost the entirety of a specific market segment.[38] apple music and amazon music 25% apple ios 27% the term gatekeeper refers to the ability of intermediary platforms to act as the main "bottleneck" to a large number of market participants, that are not reachable elsewhere. behind this development are market forces that encompass (1) important economies of scale on the supply side; (2) strong direct and indirect network effects on the demand side; (3) data driven competitive advantage; (4) high rate of innovation; and (5) development of conglomerates that structure entire ecosystems.[40] in addition, the combination of these elements can lead to market dynamics that follow the "winner takes most" scenarios.[7] during the last years, serious concerns have been expressed by authorities across the world with regard to the economic power of some digital giants. in europe, the european commission   backed by years of enforcement experience in eu competition law[6]   has pointed out that a part of those intermediary platforms may be considered "gatekeeper" or "structuring platforms" in their respective market segments.[38] moreover, it has also expressed the concern that big tech companies might unlawfully take advantage of their market and bargaining powers, in order to lock in dominant positions (i.e. in the existing markets), to increase their level of influence, and to obtain leading positions in new sectors of activity. hence, this can be interpreted as providing unfair advantages to the incumbents present in core and ancillary services, as distorting the competition, and as harming the consumers, in the long run, through either increased prices or reduced options.[38] under eu competition law, reaching a "dominant position" is by no mean considered illegal, nor is the idea of a "winner takes most" scenario. however, practices that lock in dominant positions or that impose unfair conditions, terms to third parties might be treated as unlawful.[7] the digital markets act sets up a list of conducts that should be outlawed, on the one hand, and obligations that platforms identified as gatekeepers should respect, on the other hand. the list is divided in two different parts, the general blacklisted actions (article 5) and the case by case assessment that needs to be specified (article 6). the dma combines quantitative and qualitative criteria in the process of designating gatekeepers. there are three criteria in the legislation:[41] the dma covers eight different sectors, also known as core platforms services (cps). the european commission considers them problematic because the gatekeepers' presence prevents market contestability to a certain extent.[5][38] as of september 2023, the designated gatekeepers and their services are:[42] apple's ipados was initially excluded from the list, as it does not meet the required quantitative thresholds.[43] in april 2024, following an eu commission market investigation, ipados has been deemed a gatekeeper core platform service for posing an "important gateway for business users to reach end users".[44] other services that were under investigation include microsoft's bing, edge and microsoft advertising; and apple's imessage.[42] on february 13, 2024, the european commission announced their decision that bing, edge, microsoft advertising and imessage don't qualify as gatekeeper services.[45] the european commission didn't go into detail on their decision other than stating that it was the result of "a thorough assessment of all arguments, taking into account input by relevant stakeholders, and after hearing the digital markets advisory committee."[45] despite the lack of detail provided by the european commission on their decision, multiple outlets speculated that the decision was based on the services not meeting the threshold necessary to be classified as a gatekeeper service. this speculation was based, in part, on an article by the financial times from september 2023 that reported that both microsoft and apple made appeals on the grounds that there wasn't a big enough user base in europe for the services under review. the financial times received this information from two sources with direct knowledge on the matter.[46][47][48][49][50] the two following sections detail each rule individually and mention, when it is the case, the concrete example that determined the commission to include them. this list comprises seven obligations and prohibitions for addressing the unfair trading practices. all the identified gatekeepers will have to respect these provisions:[5] (a) prevents gatekeepers to combine personal data coming from core platforms services (cps) with data collected through other services of the same gatekeepers or from a third party. also, it prevents end users being signed in to other services offered by the gatekeepers. however, this can be done only if the choice has been presented to the end user and consent given.[5][40] combining personal data from different sources was ruled illegal by the german federal cartel office in 2019, in a case against facebook.[6] the company was also fined €110 million in may 2017 for notifying the commission that it would not be possible to combine data coming from facebook and whatsapp, at the time of the acquisition of whatsapp in 2014. however, the commission found that this practice constituted a possibility since 2014, given the fact that whatsapp inserted this option in its terms of services privacy policy in 2016.[10][53] (b) allow business users to offer the same products or services to end users through third party online intermediation services at prices or conditions that are different from those offered through the online intermediation services of the gatekeeper.[5] this has already been considered illegal in a competition law case concerning amazon e books. in its contracts with the publishers of e books, amazon required them to offer at least the best price or conditions that they proposed to any other competitors.[54][55] this article also derives from the cases concerning online travel agencies such as booking.com or expedia.[6][56] (c) allow business users to promote offers to end users acquired via the core platform service, and to conclude contracts with these end users regardless of whether for that purpose they use the core platform services of the gatekeeper or not, allow end users to access and use, through the core platform services of the gatekeeper, content, subscriptions, features or other items by using the software application of a business user, where these items have been acquired by the end users from the relevant business user without using the core platform services of the gatekeeper [5] the legal character of this kind of practices is currently investigated by the european commission in a case concerning the app store of apple and the 30% commission that they charged to all the subscriptions made through the app store.[57][58][59] (d) refrain from preventing or restricting business users from raising issues with any relevant public authority relating to any practice of gatekeepers[5] this is a general practice that does not come from the case law but it guarantees the right of business users to raise possible concerns to public authorities (such as the european commission).[6] (e) refrain from requiring business users to use, offer or interoperate with an identification service of the gatekeeper in the context of services offered by the business users using the core platform services of that gatekeeper.[5] also known as a bundling practice, it prevents gatekeepers from forcing business users to use the id of the core platform services when they offer their services. thus, it is often related to advertisers or publishers issues such as google and their methods of collecting data.[60][61][6] (f) prevents the bundling of different cpss of the platform that are identified as gatekeeper.[5] for this bundling practice, in 2018, google was fined with €4.3 billion by the commission in a decision on android.[11] the company breached the antitrust rules of the eu by forcing android's users to pre install its own services, such as google search and google chrome.[12][62][63] this way, google secured its dominant position in terms of internet search.[11] (g) provide advertisers and publishers to which it supplies advertising services, upon their request, with information concerning the price paid by the advertiser and publisher, as well as the amount or remuneration paid to the publisher, for the publishing of a given ad and for each of the relevant advertising services provided by the gatekeeper this last obligation is linked to the investigation of the european commission on google's data and advertising practices.[60][64][6] article 6 of the dma contains a second list of eleven obligations and prohibitions for gatekeepers. these obligations are specified individually by the european commission after consulting the gatekeepers concerned. (a) refrain from using, in competition with business users, any data not publicly available, which is generated through activities by those business users, including by the end users of these business users, of its core platform services or provided by those business users of its core platform services or by the end users of these business users[5] the potential ban of this practice derives from the amazon marketplace case that is under investigation by the european commission.[65] the commission claimed that amazon breached antitrust rules by using "non public data" from their business users in order to compete with them.[66][65] (b) to guarantee the possibility for end users to uninstall pre installed applications on its cps.[5] this obligation derives from the cases on microsoft internet explorer and google android, where the european commission forced them to allow end users to uninstall pre installed app from their core platforms services.[6][67][11] (c) allow the installation and effective use of third party software applications or software application stores using, or interoperating with, operating systems of that gatekeeper and allow these software applications or software application stores to be accessed by means other than the core platform services of that gatekeeper[5] the practice is currently investigated in the apple app store case. the commission considers that apple does not let its competitors inform users about the possibility to buy their products on other platforms than the app store, at potential cheaper prices.[57][59] (d) refrain from treating more favourably in ranking services and products offered by the gatekeeper itself or by any third party belonging to the same undertaking compared to similar services or products of third party and apply fair and non discriminatory conditions to such ranking[5] this practice has already been prohibited in the case of google shopping and is currently investigated in the amazon buy box case.[40] mainly, it refers to self preferencing own products at the expense of competitors in the search results of a certain marketplace.[68][69] this can be seen as deriving from the conflict between spotify and apple on the restrictions imposed to use spotify on apple devices, that had the purpose of promoting apple music services.[70][6] (f) allow business users and providers of ancillary services access to and interoperability with the same operating system, hardware or software features that are available or used in the provision by the gatekeeper of any ancillary services[5] this provision can be illustrated for example by practices currently analysed in the apple pay case. by favouring its devices and its own method of payment   apple pay   at the expense of its competitors, apple is currently scrutinized by the commission.[71] interoperability requirement is a key demand by civil society and the open source community.[72] (g) provide advertisers and publishers, upon their request and free of charge, with access to the performance measuring tools of the gatekeeper and the information necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of the ad inventory[5] this article would help business users of platforms, especially advertisers, to have access to the data related to the ads and publications posted on the gatekeeper's platforms. facebook and google are potentially the main targets of this article, and maybe amazon.[6] (h) provide effective portability of data generated through the activity of a business user or end user and shall, in particular, provide tools for end users to facilitate the exercise of data portability, in line with gdpr (regulation eu 2016/679), including by the provision of continuous and real time access[5] the abovementioned provision has a more general scope and it is not built around specific cases. seen as complementing the gdpr regulation, it gives more precision regarding the scope of data portability, by adding that the data access should be "continuous" and "real time". in practical terms, this guarantees both access to users (including business users) and benefits in terms of up to date data portability generated by the platform. (i) provide business users, or third parties authorised by a business user, free of charge, with effective, high quality, continuous and real time access and use of aggregated or non aggregated data, that is provided for or generated in the context of the use of the relevant core platform services by those business users and the end users engaging with the products or services provided by those business users; for personal data, provide access and use only where directly connected with the use effectuated by the end user in respect of the products or services offered by the relevant business user through the relevant core platform service, and when the end user opts in to such sharing with a consent in the sense of the gdpr regulation (eu) 2016/679;[5] as article (h), this article does not derive from an individual case and complements the gdpr.[6] it guarantees more rights to business and end users regarding the interoperability of the data generated on platforms.[6] this is meant to make data generated by different platforms compatible and usable by different systems.[73] (j) provide to any third party providers of online search engines, upon their request, with access on fair, reasonable and non discriminatory terms to ranking, query, click and view data in relation to free and paid search generated by end users on online search engines of the gatekeeper, subject to anonymisation for the query, click and view data that constitutes personal data;[5] this article is especially meant to ensure a higher degree of competition in the online search engines market, by providing more rights to the (new) competitors.[6] it gives providers of online search engines access to data generated by the gatekeeper in the sector (presumably google search at the moment, as it concentrates 95% of the market share in this sector).[38] this is also related to the google search case and to article 5(d) or the "blacklisted actions" of the dma (see above).[6] (k) apply fair and non discriminatory general conditions of access for business users to its software application store ...[5] this provision targets the store application of gatekeepers (app store, google play),[6] and has the aim to protect the rights of app developers and of business users. the digital markets act will allow the european commission to have regulatory and market investigation powers. under these circumstances, market investigations will be mainly designated to:[5] art. 1(5) of the digital markets act states that member states are prohibited from imposing on gatekeepers further obligations by way of laws, regulations or administrative action for the purpose of ensuring contestable and fair markets. obligations that are unrelated to the relevant undertakings having a status of gatekeeper within the meaning of the digital markets act are exempted from this prohibition.[74] on 22 march 2022, the european court of justice ruled in the joint cases c 117/20 bpost and c 151/20 nordzucker that investigators can start antitrust scrutiny of companies that have already been probed under sector regulation such as the digital markets act, so long as the two cases are "conducted in a sufficiently coordinated manner within a proximate timeframe and the overall penalties imposed must correspond to the seriousness of the offenses committed."[75][76] this opens up a path for parallel national prosecution of gatekeepers, for example as germany has done under the german competition law amendment section 19a.[77] the german federal cartel office has in 2021 opened multiple proceedings against large tech firms that would be considered gatekeepers under the digital markets act, including facebook (now: meta),[78] amazon,[79] apple[80] and google.[81][82] section 19a cases may involve coordination among the german federal cartel office and the european commission and other national competition authorities. legally, it has been proposed by the federal cartel office that section 19a must be seen as an expansion of competition law, meaning that it could be applied parallel to the digital markets act. the trilogue negotiations on the digital markets act have not yielded a common position on the matter.[83] [needs update] as of september 2023, the list of gatekeepers was revealed to be alphabet, amazon, apple, bytedance, meta and microsoft.[84][85] the twenty two core products listed as gatekeeping products were: alphabet inc. is the parent company of google. tensions between alphabet and the european union have been generated by sanctions applied to unfair practices related to advertising, mobile operating system, or shopping strategies. several fines were imposed by the european commission to alphabet because of breaches of competition law but taking into account that despite the cjeu's rulings, "inefficient market outcomes in terms of higher prices, lower quality, less choice and innovation" still emerged, the dma aims to better regulate this area.[86][failed verification] as the main focus of the dma is represented by operators that provide search engines, social networks, cloud computing services and operating systems, google was one of the companies that officially presented its position.[87] in an interview, google executive matt brittin stated that: "it's so important to get the rules right for european consumers to have more choice, to support the kind of jobs we'll need in the future and to support european businesses."[87] even though not specifically named, google is one of the companies that will be affected by the stringent rules, because the legislation will be applied to firms with european revenues of at least €6.5 bn or at least 45 million users across europe. nevertheless, as subject to potential fines of up to 10% of its global revenue for breaking the rules,[88] google is highly incentivized to continue influencing the legislators and lobbying in brussels for obtaining better conditions under the digital market act. the rhetoric of google and its attempts to contour an official position relied mainly on the risks that might emerge from the legislative act, namely barriers   "as europeans will only have access to less choice and to more costly alternatives".[88] nevertheless, the big tech has also tried to highlight the weaknesses of the digital market act and they labelled it a blacklist   whose implications in terms of interoperability might not generate innovation in the future, but incentives for "lowest common denominator".[89] in november 2020, the french news magazine le point published google's leaked lobby strategy on the digital market act, thus several practices and intentions have been uncovered.[87] for example, there were made references to: as far as the cost of these lobbying practices is concerned, according to the transparency register, google spent more than €19 million on lobbying in the first half of 2020.[90] even though the sum of money allocated by google has already reached significant levels, the numbers presented above do not comprise all the transactions related to academic partnerships, law firms, or activities conducted in individual member states. corporate europe observatory investigated the fight of eu tech regulation and according to its findings, 158 meetings were registered since the von der leyen commission took office, meetings that "involved 103 organisations, mostly companies and lobby groups. only 13 actors had at least 3 or more meetings logged on these issues. google stands out with the most meetings with microsoft and facebook trailing close behind. apple and amazon have also lobbied on the dma and/ or dsa, although they rank lower overall with two and one meeting respectively".[90] however, one of the limitations faced is represented by the fact that the endeavours with the officials responsible for drafting the legislation are not mentioned, as only the official meetings with high representatives are declared or announced.[90] despite the fact that the proposal has been published on 15 december 2020, the lobbying practices still represent an ongoing process because they have been transferred from the commission to the european parliament and council. however, comparing the data obtained on the meetings of the european commission with the information made available by the other institutions, it can be observed that transparency is even less stringent. in october 2023 the german cartel office said alphabet unit google had agreed to change its user data practices to end a german antitrust investigation aimed at curbing its data driven market power.[91] alphabet responded by:[92] in september 2024, the eu court of justice found that google's shopping search was in violation of the digital markets act.[93] amazon welcomed the dma and according to its position,[94] the company has not been as concerned about it as the other gafam members.[citation needed] this can be explained by the fact that compared to google's and apple's case, the digital markets act could affect amazon only in three aspects:[original research?] the prohibition on using non public data from competitors it hosts on its platform and the prohibition on ranking its product before the ones offered by competitors may impact amazon if the proposal for the dma is adopted under its current form. moreover, these aspects caused amazon to negotiate the final version of the regulation, taking into account that it spent €1.75 million on lobbying practices and that it became a member of several think tanks.[95] the new european draft legislation has also targeted apple's app store with regard to its practices and preinstalled applications. one of the main changes that will be brought to their current business model is represented by the removal of the "self preferencing" strategy.[96] as a result of the proposal on the digital markets act, apple would be forced to change the manner in which its apps are displayed in the app store searches, so as to give the chance to smaller developers to have their software downloaded by consumers. moreover, apple will have to allow its customers to uninstall preloaded first party apps from the devices procured. thus, both google and apple will be constrained and their practices more regulated. according to the dma final proposal, these big tech companies will be compelled to share performance metrics for free with advertisers and publishers.[96] before the official release of the dma proposal, some companies   including apple   tried to change their behaviour, taking into account the reactions generated by the commission's intent to regulate the digital market. as far as apple is concerned, in october, a group of french publishers   led by alliance de la presse d'information générale (apig)   highlighted its concern with regard to the app store's terms of service. for example, one of their requirements was related to the economic dependence on apple   "content publishers are in a situation of absolute economic dependence on apple for the distribution of their content on the iphone, since the only store available on this device is the appstore". in addition, apple was criticised for the 30% commission on sales that it makes through apps on the platform, thus the apig showed its concern vis a vis the further concentration on the market.[97] the reaction of apple to these allegations was focused especially on a reduction of its commission rate to 15% for app developers with less than $1 million in annual net sales, but this did not impede the european commission to continue advocating for the digital markets act.[98] similar to google's case, apple also seeks to limit the influence of the commission and to escape the definition of gatekeeper, so as not to become subject to further obligations. however, as brussels still wants to outlaw gatekeepers' ability to ban others from accessing their marketplaces, firms like spotify and facebook   that believe apple has set unfair conditions on those companies' apps within app store, seem to support the commission's proposal.[99] the strategy of apple to limit the influence of the dma is not as clear or well structured as in google's case. however, there can be observed some practices engaged in by the company to ensure that its objectives are taken into account by the european officials. according to a research conducted by the corporate europe observatory,[100] it seems that apple, google, and facebook used to work with several associations that declared themselves independent, without disclosing their linkages. for example, the center for european reform has featured on its website a list of its corporate donors   one of them being apple   but apple does not specify this information on the transparency register entry.[100] under these circumstances, it can be observed the network created around interests' groups, companies, ngos and think tanks, as all of them seek to shape the legislative process in brussels in their favour. when it comes to lobby spending, despite the limited and incomplete information, it can be observed that apple is in the top 30 individual corporate lobby spenders in brussels, at numbers 16 (with over €2 million). in comparison with google, that has allocated a budget of €8 million, apple still invests a considerable sum of money on access to european officials, so as to present its demands.[100] on june 24, 2024, apple became the first company to be charged under the dma, with regulators alleging that the company's apple store policies are illegal.[101][102] bytedance is the one non american company on the list of gatekeepers. its major service offering is the video hosting social network tiktok. bytedance responded by launching a data portability api for eea users, later to provide "increased access" to the api, improving the download your data tool's speed and adding the ability to partially export tiktok data by allowing selections of categories to export. a webform for future dma compliance was created.[103] considering that the digital markets act aims to limit the influence of large companies by allowing alternative players to emerge, meta has also been targeted by the legislative proposal. as in the other companies' cases, once the dma is adopted, unfair practices will be highly discouraged and even prohibited, so as to stop the harm they bring to competition. however, apart from google, apple, and amazon, meta seems to support the eu rules that have been published last year.[timeframe?] in its official declarations, meta claimed that it hopes that the european union will set boundaries for apple. nevertheless, in this context there were not observed solely tensions between the commission and the big tech companies, but even between gafam, taking into account their statements and the objectives they advocate for. the controversies between meta and apple started with the privacy feature used by apple, that allows consumers to block advertisers from tracking them across different applications. thus, meta, a company that earns revenue from advertising, began to retaliate and showed its discontent. it has also added that "apple controls an entire ecosystem from device to app store and apps, and uses this power to harm developers and consumers, as well as large platforms like facebook".[104] the reaction of apple was quite harsh and accused meta of "invasive tracking".[104] therefore, the discussions around the digital markets act started to create more tensions between big tech firms and to deviate from the scope of the proposal, as the companies focused on criticising their "competitors" of illegal practices.[105] microsoft was identified as gatekeeper. the consultant cristina caffarra and professor fiona scott morton presented the view that the only obligation that might affect microsoft under the dma was to enable end users to delete any software applications pre installed.[6] it is unclear whether scott morton was consulting already for microsoft at the time of making such statements, her consulting work for microsoft became known during the fiona scott morton affair.[106] microsoft complied by allowing worldwide users to uninstall camera, photos, and cortana, and eea users to uninstall bing web search and microsoft edge. apis for custom search engines and widget feeds were created for eea exclusive users. eea users will also be prompted about syncing a pc's data to microsoft.[107] a registry hack was shortly created to get these changes without living in an eea country or having to move to an eea country.[108] eea users are no longer advertised about microsoft edge. due to their important positions on the short term accommodation market, airbnb and booking.com became potential targets for the legislation. indeed, above 50% of the homes designated for 'short terms stay' are listed on airbnb, and approximatively 30% on booking.com.[109] therefore, their possible labelling as gatekeepers has been long debated, leading the companies to defend themselves and explain why they should not be considered included in this category.[110][111][112] moreover, booking.com insisted on the fact that it is one of the only european companies that is a global success and that as they are not the most dominant actor in this sector, they should not be disincentivized while competing with bigger companies.[112] with approximately one third of the market share in the music subscription market in 2020, spotify is by far the dominant actor in this sector, with apple music coming in second position, with around 15% of market share.[113] however, spotify does not seem to meet the criteria set by the european commission, according to the analysis of vox eu.[6] dirk auer, an economist of the american think tank icle, qualified this piece of legislation as a way to protect the european firms, and that the criteria are on purpose excluding major european tech firms, notably spotify.[114] even if it is true that sap would probably be the only european firm targeted by the legal act,[6] there are also american big platforms like twitter or uber not targeted by the legislation, despite their important market position.[6] although samsung had appeared earlier on a list of possible gatekeepers,[115] it was not on the final list. in october 2024, the european commission decided that x (formerly known as twitter) is not considered a gatekeeper in online social networking, as it is "not an important gateway for business users to reach end users."[116] the french government expressed its ambition for imposing stricter enforcement on competition rules, so as to prevent giant tech firms favouring their own services, ousting rivals or maintaining their dominant positions.[117][118] nevertheless, france would like to rely on the possibility of adapting the rules, through the digital markets act, in order to respond to the constant changes of the digital market.[119] the french government is known to be publicly in favour of more regulation of the gafam[120] and unilaterally set up its "gafa tax [fr]" in 2019.[121] this tax was the source of tensions with the trump administration.[122] the german federal government welcomed the proposal on the digital markets act. they consider that the current european legal framework is not sufficiently strong and that the enforcement measures must also be strengthened with respect to digital platforms.[123][119] however, the main concern of germany still remains the preservation of small and medium sized companies, as it intends to keep them out of the scope of the new rules.[123] the head of the german federal cartel office, andreas mundt, has on several occasions criticised the european commission's centralised approach to regulating gatekeepers.[124] he has called the european commission's veto right over national competition authorities' powers to impose decisions against big tech "unacceptable", and has asked for more powers to be given to national competition authorities.[125] this position was echoed by other member states.[126][127] in october 2020, the dutch government jointly with france and belgium, expressed their willingness for a stricter enforcement of the competition rules, in order to avoid abuse of dominance and anti competitive practices.[118] on 17 february 2021, the dutch government published its official position on the digital markets act[128] and welcomed the initiative, taking into account that the objectives it comprises are aligned with their national position. the irish government published its position on 8 september 2020, during the public consultations held for the digital services act package.[129] according to their statements, irish authorities are not willing to assess the definition of "gatekeepers", as they explained that the occupation of a dominant position is not illegal. moreover, they have also stressed that this particular aspect does not imply a diminution of consumer welfare and does not prevent innovation or new entrances in the digital market.[129] many of the companies that are likely to be targeted by the dma have their headquarters in ireland.[130][131] the approach of the irish government towards big tech companies has often been the source of debates within the european union.[132][130] in 2016, the european commission accused ireland of granting apple "illegal tax benefits".[133] the general court ruled in favour of apple, but the commission expressed its intention to appeal the ruling to the european court of justice.[134] as with other pieces of complex legislation (the 'brussels effect'), other countries have taken steps to copy the dma.[135] draft legislation has been launched to implement a regulatory framework inspired by the european union's digital markets act.[136][135] the indian government is considering a dma styled regulatory approach to apply to "systemically important digital intermediaries. however, as of april 2024 no concrete proposals were done.[135] japan is reworking its competition laws and regulations in order to more close resemble the regulatory structure of the european union.[137] the "promotion of platform competition" is modeled on the dma,[135] but is currently delayed. the digital markets, competition and consumers act, granting powers to the competition and markets authority to regulate technology companies with strategic market power, has been passed by parliament and was granted royal assent to become law on 24 may 2024.[138] this legislation comes in a context where the eu and the us, under the biden administration, want to rebuild better relations after the tensions that emerged during the trump presidency.[139] the european commission has stressed the need for cooperation between the eu and the us in dealing with the dominant positions of online platforms and big tech which they consider harmful.[5] in january 2021, the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, stated that the then current president of the united states, joe biden, and the european union share the same position regarding the regulation of tech companies.[140] in a speech at the munich security conference in february 2021 she invited the united states to join the european union in its initiatives in order to create rules in the digital economy that can be "valid worldwide".[141] even if the official position of the biden administration on the digital markets act is not yet publicly known, the same debates about the dominant position of some digital tech platforms are rising in the united states.[142][143][144] an antitrust lawsuit was opened in december 2020 against facebook by the us federal trade commission and 46 american states for abusing its dominant position and exercising anti competitive conduct for several years.[145][146][147][148] in a document published in march 2021, the congressional research service, an american government think tank that informs the members of the us congress, outlined the fact that the new digital regulations led by the european union, including the digital markets act, could be sources of potential future cooperation between the eu and the united states, while stressing the potential impact on the us economy.[149] footnotes citations

sunday, february 09, 2025 9:42 am (paris) ecuador holds elections amid explosion of violence two years after the earthquake, villages in southern turkey face expropriation robert fico, the slovak leader who has made ukraine his 'enemy' sanctions against the icc: trump's present to netanyahu poland's jewish community cautiously 're emerges' at 80th anniversary of discovery of auschwitz, last survivors caution not to forget how a handful of far right accounts influence elon musk's vision of europe why europe's drive to rearm is stalling at the sarkozy gaddafi trial, the prosecution's case is slowly taking shape hundreds of mourners at funeral of french toddler who disappeared in 2023 at sarkozy's trial: a former friend, a 'generous' transfer, and a colombian villa wheelchairs in france will be fully reimbursed from december 1 why are us mexico relations so conflictual? auschwitz, 80 years commemoration: why didn't the allies try to stop the holocaust sooner? why does global hunger remain stubbornly high? trump's inauguration: watch the ceremony's highlights jacob rogozinski: 'who will forgive us if we fail to ask forgiveness for these crimes in gaza?' dominique méda: 'what europe needs is not a simplification shock, but an ambition shock' a dangerous attack against environmental agencies 'the new security environment in the nordic region should encourage the eu to seize its opportunity' the smell of dry cleaning, the odor of a garage: comme des garçons' non conformist fragrances 'kate from kharkiv' posts dark messages on sleepless nights: 'it's not another life, a virtual one, it's mine' the life of dreams and nightmares arizona's japanese americans lived during the second world war in paris's saint germain neighborhood, buly combines a traditional ethos and modern efficiency to craft its beauty products in paris's saint germain neighborhood, buly combines a traditional ethos and modern efficiency to craft its beauty products 'making notre dame's medieval stones and sculptures speak,' a striking journey into fragments of the sacred at the musée de cluny balzac by rodin: anatomy of a statue a haven of peace in the heart of paris's pigalle neighborhood in a 'preliminary view' directed at apple, the eu commission formally accused its app store of violating the eu's new digital markets act, the latest move in a long running dispute between the bloc and the tech giant. le monde with afp 2 min read apple risks billions of euros in fines after the european union on monday, june 24, found the iphone maker's app store to be violating the bloc's landmark digital competition rules. it opens a new front in the increasingly bitter fight between the us tech giant and brussels over the eu's new digital markets act (dma). the sweeping law seeks to rein in the world's biggest tech firms, including apple, by forcing them to open up to competition in the 27 country eu. the european commission informed apple in a "preliminary view" that the "app store rules... prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content." this is the first time the commission has levelled a formal accusation against a tech firm under the new rules, after opening the first dma probes into apple, google and meta in march. yet for apple, the new rules are a significant challenge to its walled garden and it has openly accused the dma of creating greater privacy and security risks for users. on friday, apple said it would delay rolling out recently announced ai features in europe because of "regulatory uncertainties" linked to the dma. apple said monday that it has made "a number of changes" to comply with the rules in response to feedback from developers and the eu regulator over the past months, and would "continue to listen and engage with the european commission." apple can now access the commission's investigation file and reply to the findings. if the commission's view were confirmed, it would adopt a "non compliance decision" by late march 2025   opening the way to fines. under the new law, the commission has the power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company's total global turnover. this can rise to up to 20% for repeat offenders. apple's total revenue in the year to september 2023 stood at $383 billion (€358 billion). the eu also has the right to break up companies, but only as a last resort. dma rules mean apple must allow developers distributing apps via the app store to be able to inform users, free of charge, of "alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases," the commission said. this was not the case, according to the findings of the commission, the eu's powerful competition regulator. the app store has been at the centre of a long running dispute with the eu, even before the dma entered into force this year. the commission in march hit apple with a €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) fine after reaching similar conclusions in a probe launched in 2020 following a complaint from swedish music streaming giant spotify. apple has rejected the findings and it appealed the fine in the eu courts last month. "without prejudice to apple's right of defence, we are determined to use the clear and effective dma toolbox to swiftly bring to an end a saga which has already lasted for way too many years," said the eu's top tech enforcer, thierry breton. the firm is also under investigation over whether it allows users to easily uninstall apps on its ios operating system, and the design of the web browser choice screen. the dma forces the biggest digital companies to offer choice screens for web browsers and search engines to give users more options. on monday, the commission also opened a parallel investigation into apple over changes already made to comply with the dma, since it must now allow third party app stores. brussels said it will look at whether the core technology fee   a new fee structure for developers of third party app stores   complies with the law. it will also investigate the steps a user has to take to download an alternative app store and whether this is in line with the dma. apple had been "squeezing out innovative companies and denying consumers new opportunities and choices for too long," breton said. le monde with afp lecture du monde en cours sur un autre appareil. vous pouvez lire le monde sur un seul appareil à la fois ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil. parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire le monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil. vous ne pouvez lire le monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur, téléphone ou tablette). comment ne plus voir ce message ? en cliquant sur « continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter le monde avec ce compte. que se passera t il si vous continuez à lire ici ? ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil. ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte. y a t il d’autres limites ? non. vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez, mais en les utilisant à des moments différents. vous ignorez qui est l’autre personne ? nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe. lecture restreinte votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article pour plus d’informations, merci de contacter notre service commercial. you have opted to refuse the use of cookies while browsing our website, including personalized advertising cookies. the content of this website is the work of over 530 journalists who deliver high quality, reliable and comprehensive news and innovative online services every day. this work is supported by additional revenue from advertising and subscriptions. subscription le monde in english follow le monde
supported by the company’s app store policies are illegal under the european union’s digital markets act, according to regulators in brussels. by adam satariano and tripp mickle adam satariano covers digital policy in london. tripp mickle covers apple in san francisco. apple is imposing unfair restrictions on developers of applications for its app store in violation of a new european union law meant to encourage competition in the tech industry, regulators in brussels said on monday. apple is the first company to be charged with violating the digital markets act, a law passed in 2022 that gives european regulators wide authority to force the largest “online gatekeepers” to change their business practices. the charges signal that the european union, already known as an aggressive regulator of the tech industry, plans to intensify its crackdown. amazon, google and meta are also facing investigations under the new competition rules, while tiktok and x are facing probes under another law intended to force internet companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit content. the e.u. rules threaten to fragment the global tech market as companies delay the releases of certain products and services because of regulatory concerns. last week, apple said it would not release a software update for iphone users in the european union that included new artificial intelligence features because of “regulatory uncertainty.” meta did not release threads, its twitter like service, in the bloc until five months after it was available in the united states for similar reasons. the charges brought on monday further escalated a tussle between apple, which says its products are designed in the best interest of customers, and e.u. regulators, who say the company is unfairly using its size and considerable resources to stifle competition. after initiating an investigation in march, e.u. regulators said apple was putting unlawful restrictions on companies that make games, music services and other applications. under the law, also known as the d.m.a., apple cannot limit how companies communicate with customers about sales and other offers and content available outside the app store. the company faces a penalty of up to 10 percent of global revenue, a fine that could go up to 20 percent for repeat infringements, regulators said. apple reported $383 billion in revenue last year.

 apple’s app store rules illegally stifle competition, the european commission said on monday, escalating a years long spat between the u.s. giant and the powerful trading bloc after the company vowed to withhold its anticipated apple intelligence ai products over concerns antitrust regulation would force compromises on privacy and security features. the european commission alleges apple's app store policies breached the dma. the european commission, the european union’s executive arm and also its tech and competition watchdog, said apple’s app store policies appear to breach the bloc’s digital markets act rules designed to foster competition in the tech sector and protect smaller companies from big platforms. the preliminary findings follow an investigation the bloc launched in march, and claim the app store rules don’t allow developers to to freely direct customers to alternative payment methods or content outside of apple’s ecosystem. the commission also said the fees apple charges developers for helping them acquire new customers “go beyond what is strictly necessary for such remuneration.”