Apple is appealing a landmark fine of €500 million from the EU Commission which found the tech giant in breach of the EU’s Digital Markets Act for its App Store practices.
The European Commission handed out the fine in April, when it said that Apple had restricted app developers using the App Store of informing their customers of alternative payment options outside of the Apple App Store which might be cheaper.
In its appeal, Apple deemed the fine “unprecedented”, going further to say that the charge was “far beyond what the law requires”.
The appeal from Apple targets two key areas of the Commission’s charge and remedy suggestion.
Apple contends that the EU is consistently moving the goal posts when it comes to compliance, saying that the EU has expanded the DMA’s definition of ‘steering’.
Apple argues that the EU now includes in-app promotions and alternative payment services as steering, which it claims is a departure from the DMA’s original intent.
It also pushed back on the Commission’s insistence that the Apple App Store provide links to alternative sites.
Further, the proposed tiered system of offerings to App Store developers is “confusing for developers and bad for users,” Apple said.
The EU is already assessing if Apple’s current changes to the App Store are enough to bring it under compliance.
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Apple was one of two major tech companies to be issued the first fines under the DMA. Meta also received a fine under the regulatory law for its ‘pay or consent’ advertising model.
Meta also announced its intentions to challenge the EU’s fine, also claiming that it was being treated unfairly by the EU regulator.
Apple’s App Store continually comes under fire for anti-competitive behaviour, and has even been fined before for anti-steering techniques uses on music apps back in 2024.
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