Apple challenges $1.9 billion fine levied by the European Union

Apple is challenging a €1.8 billion (about US$1.9 billion) fine levied by the European Union for thwarting fair competition from music-streaming rivals, including Spotify, reports Bloomberg.

The tech giant has filed a suit at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg to topple the March decision, the article adds, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.” The EU’s regulatory body, the European Commission, fined Apple inn March, saying the company abused its dominance by forbidding music streaming apps to info users about cheaper subscription prices outside the Apple Music app.

This is all part of an ongoing brouhaha. In November 2023, Apple filed a legal case contesting decisions taken by the EC under its recently DMA, according to a post shared by the Court of Justice of the European Union on X.

The DMA will force Apple to allow users to utilize third-party app stores and payment systems. It will also force the company to make its Message interoperable with other messaging apps — including WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

If Apple and other companies don’t comply, the European Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover or 20% in the event of repeated infringements and periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of the company’s total worldwide daily turnover.

Not surprisingly, Apple strongly opposes the DMA. The tech giant told ABC News on March 25 that “it was concerned that parts of the Digital Markets Act “will create unnecessary privacy and security vulnerabilities for our users while others will prohibit us from charging for intellectual property in which we invest a great deal.”

The EU is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. Its policies aim “to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries, and regional development.”