Apple is appealing the 500 million euro (about $570 million) fine that it’s facing in the European Union for allegedly violating the Digital Markets Act.
In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that the fine is unprecedented, and goes beyond what the law requires. From the statement: Today we filed our appeal because we believe the European Commission’s decision–and their unprecedented fine–go far beyond what the law requires. As our appeal will show, the EC is mandating how we run our store and forcing business terms which are confusing for developers and bad for users. We implemented this to avoid punitive daily fines and will share the facts with the Court.
On April 23, the European Commission fined Apple and Meta with €500 million (about US$570 million) and €200 million (about $230 million) respectively (about US$570 million) for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
When it comes to Apple, the EC — the executive arm of the European Union — claims that, under the DMA, app developers distributing their apps via Apple’s App Store should be able to inform customers, free of charge, of alternative offers outside the App Store, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases. The EC alleges that Apple fails to comply with this obligation.
“Due to a number of restrictions imposed by Apple, app developers cannot fully benefit from the advantages of alternative distribution channels outside the App Store. Similarly, consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers,” the EC says. “The company has failed to demonstrate that these restrictions are objectively necessary and proportionate.”
As part of the decision, the EC has ordered Apple to remove the technical and commercial restrictions on steering and to refrain from perpetuating the non-compliant conduct in the future, which includes adopting conduct with an equivalent object or effect.
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