The European Commission announced this Monday that it has opened an in-depth investigation against the company Manzana by concluding in a preliminary analysis that the digital store of the American technology giant breaches the Digital Markets Law of the European Union.
In parallel, Brussels has also opened “a new non-compliance procedure against Apple – the third in total – because it suspects that “its new contractual requirements for third-party application developers and application stores” also breach community regulations, the European Commission indicated. it’s a statement.
In case of infringement, the Commission may impose fines of up to 10% of turnover total worldwide of the company and up to 20% in case of recurrence.
“Without prejudice to Apple’s right of defence, we are determined to use the clear and effective tools of the Digital Markets Act to finally open up real opportunities for innovators and consumers,” said the Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton.
The first, extended investigation continues a preliminary file initiated by the Community Executive on March 25 and refers to the rules of the digital store of the apple firm, “App Store”.
Brussels believes the company’s rules “prevent app developers from freely directing consumers to alternative channels for offers and content.”
European law stipulates that those who distribute their applications through the “App Store” must be able, free of charge, to inform their customers about “alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities, direct them to those offers and allow them to make purchases.”
But the Commission understands that none of the three sets of commercial terms that govern the relationship between Apple and developers allow this.
In “most commercial terms” for developers, Apple only allows developers to redirect customers through a link to a web page (“link-out”) to conclude the contract, in a process that is subject to several restrictions “imposed by Apple”, explains the Commission.
Those restrictions prevent developers from “communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice.”
Apple also charges them a fee for each purchase of digital goods or services that a user carries out within seven days after using a “link-out” from the application, a practice that the Community Executive believes goes “beyond what is strictly necessary” to receive a remuneration that the digital giant does have the right to charge for facilitating the acquisition of a new customer.
The company can now examine the documents and exercise its right of defense, responding in writing to Brussels.
Based on those responses, the Commission could adopt a “non-compliance decision within 12 months of the opening of procedures on March 25, 2024″indicated the institution.
In addition, Brussels has launched a new investigation into Apple for not respecting Community digital regulations regarding the contractual terms it offers to developers and, specifically, regarding the provision of alternative app stores or the possibility of offering an application through an alternative distribution channel.
In particular, the Commission is interested in the Apple “Core Technology Fee”a system under which developers of third-party app stores and third-party applications must pay a fee of 0.50 euros per installed application and will investigate the fee structure imposed.
Brussels will also analyze Apple’s process for downloading and installing alternative app stores or apps on its iPhone phones.
Simultaneously, the Executive will continue to develop the ongoing preliminary investigation to clarify whether the controls and reviews established by Apple to validate alternative applications and application stores to be laterally loaded respect the Digital Markets Law that giants such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft must comply.
Brussels is also carrying out preliminary investigations into Alphabet on Google Play and Meta, and collects information about Amazon.
In case of infringement, in addition to the aforementioned fines, Brussels will also can force the firm in question “to sell a business or parts of itor prohibit the guardian from acquiring additional services related to the systematic non-compliance.”
