Brazil Recommends Sanctions for Apple Over App Store and NFC Rules
The recommendation was issued by the General Superintendence of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (SG/CADE), the technical body of the federal antitrust authority. In a public statement translated from Portuguese, SG/CADE determined that Apple’s conduct with iOS constitutes a violation of Brazilian competition law and urged CADE’s internal tribunal to impose penalties, including financial fines and mandatory changes to Apple’s policies.
The investigation started in 2022 after formal complaints were submitted by Latin American e-commerce platform MercadoLibre and other digital service providers. The companies alleged that Apple engaged in anti-competitive practices by requiring in-app purchases to be made exclusively through its own payment system and by restricting developers from informing users about alternative purchasing options — a practice known as anti-steering.
MercadoLibre further argued that Apple abused its control over the iOS platform by denying third-party access to critical technologies such as the iPhone ‘s NFC chip, effectively limiting mobile payment competition in Brazil.
Previously:
- PayPal Contactless iPhone Payments
- Brazilian Court Mandates iOS Sideloading
- iPhone NFC Access Outside EU
- Apple Commits to Opening NFC in EU
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Man, their chickens really are coming home to roost. None of this would’ve happened if they’d listened to users and developers and opened up a little. Instead, they tried to control everything
This is similar to what happened to Bell Telephone except Apple is getting a mere slap on the wrist instead of being broken up
At least Bell was confined to a single (national) jurisdiction.
Apple is getting picked at all over the globe in similar but slightly different ways.
It would be a lot simpler if there were one judge that issued one definitive order. And if Apple keeps pushing they may wind up with 9 of them making a statement that will be hard for them to wiggle out of. That seems to be what they want, but I don’t think it will go the way they think it will.
