EU Fines Apple and Meta Over DMA Violations
Foo Yun Chee and Jan Strupczewski (European Commission, MacRumors, Hacker News):
Apple was fined 500 million euros ($570 million) on Wednesday and Meta 200 million euros, as European Union antitrust regulators handed out the first sanctions under landmark legislation aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech.
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The EU competition watchdog said Apple must remove technical and commercial restrictions that prevent app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store.
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Apple avoided a fine in a separate investigation into its browser options on iPhones after making changes that allow users to switch to a rival browser or search engine more easily. Regulators said these comply with the DMA and closed the investigation on Wednesday.
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The iPhone maker was still charged with breaching DMA rules on the grounds it hindered users from sideloading, a practice that involves downloading alternative app stores and apps from the web.
In addition to the fine, Apple has been issued with a cease-and-desist order requiring it to make further product changes by late June. If the firm fails to comply, the Commission can fine it for every additional day it is in breach of the law.
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Finally, the Commission opted to escalate its enforcement effort against Apple’s app store, issuing the iPhone-maker with a charge sheet concerning its dealings with alternative app marketplaces. These preliminary findings still need to be investigated further but could mean more DMA fines for Apple down the line.
Apple booked about $184B in profit last year, so this fine is about 0.3% of that. Maybe Apple just considers this the new cost of doing business in the EU? […] Something, not nothing, but definitely not a big deal. Teresa Ribera, the EC competition chief, is clearly trying to thread a political needle here.
Previously:
- Apple’s DMA Compliance Criticized
- European Commission Specification Proceedings
- EU Fines Apple $2 Billion Over Anti-Steering Rules
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Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Cook and co have been stacking up raffle tickets for years—I suspect this is just the first of many draws.
Ahh I see Gruber has now progressed from arguing that Apple wasn't in breach of the law, to the law is bad / broken, to just saying it's a cost of business, and Apple should remain a criminal enterprise, pay the fines and ignore laws 'MURICA doesn't agree with.
The Venn diagram of Gruber and MAGA is basically a single circle when it comes to Apple.
These decrees of yours are no different from spiders' webs. They'll restrain anyone weak and insignificant who gets caught in them, but they'll be torn to shreds by people with power and wealth.
-Anacharsis
That White House quote that Gruber is endorsing regarding "Extraterritorial regulations that specifically target and undermine American companies" is just chef's kiss given that the US love that kind of thing.
This is no way to curry favour with Trump‘s America, Brussels. Stop quaffing your champagne and woofing down your oysters and fight, can’t you? Competition *can* be important, but it most certainly isn't *everything*.
@Someone Yes, I believe he also suggested that the genocide in Gaza were Palestinians "fucking around and finding out". I really think we must put the delightfully inaccurate political descriptor "moderate" to bed.
"someebby" is, of course, me, Sebby. The capital indicator, dot 6, was misrecognised by the new-and-improved Braille Screen Input as dot 5, and dot 5 followed by S is "some" in grade 2 Braille. So I apologise for getting my handle wrong in my previous comment. Michael, please feel free to fix (and, if you like, delete this comment).
