Neither Apple nor the European Commission are giving in to their demands!
Throughout its history, Apple has faced epic lawsuits that have cost it billions of dollars. The next legal issue on the company’s list would require it to pay a $1.8 billion fine, as ordered by the European Commission in March of this year. According to the entity, ““Apple abuses its dominant position in the market for the distribution of streaming music applications”.
Faced with the request from the European Commission, promoted at the time by Spotify, Apple remains faithful to the response announced since the report on the fine. According to a report from MacRumors, Apple has filed a complaint with the EU General Court in Luxembourg to challenge the March decision. While the Commission declared itself ready to defend its decision in court.
Apple challenged the European Commission’s million dollar sanction
Apple’s defense is based on the assertion that the decision to fine the company was made “despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of harm to consumers.” Apple also said the decision “ignores the realities of a thriving, competitive and rapidly growing market.”
In addition, it is worth remembering that after months before modifying the application store policies to allow music applications to inform users about other options for purchasing digital music content or services, in accordance to the new regulations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Commission.
Following an action launched by Spotify in 2019, the European Commission investigated whether Apple was actually engaging in anti-competitive and monopolistic practices with its App Store policy. Now that the investigation is complete, the European Commission has ruled that Apple’s rule prohibiting the indication of other means of payment and the inclusion of external links in iPhone and iPad applications must be sanctioned.
The amount of the fine represents 5% of Apple’s annual global revenue, so if this continues it would represent a significant impact. Additionally, the lawsuit demands that the company remove restrictions placed on its competitors and no longer engage in similar practices.
This year, pressure against Apple in the European Union has forced the company to give in to historic changes, access to alternative payment methods, external links, more web browsing applications by default and to third-party app stores, but in the war against Spotify, Apple is determined to use all its resources to prove otherwise.
You can follow iPadized on Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter (X) or check out our Telegram channel to stay up to date with the latest tech news.
