We have just known that the European Commission has imposed a Fine of 500 million euros to the company for breaching the Digital Markets Law.
In addition, it has not been the only one, since Goal has also been sanctioned With 200 million, but Apple's case stands out both for the figure and what it represents for the future of application stores.
Trial resolution: Apple will have to pay
The reason for the sanction is clear: according to the commission, Apple has restricted application developers the possibility of informing its users about alternative offers outside the app store. This goes against one of the key pillars of the DMA, which seeks to avoid the abuse of power of the great technological platforms. Specifically, the law requires that developers can, without restrictions or positions, redirect users towards other purchase options, subscriptions or downloads that do not depend on the Apple ecosystem.
And after months of research, Brussels has determined that Apple has put technical and commercial obstacles that prevent this right. Developers, according to the Commission, cannot freely inform their clients about lower prices or alternative payment methods. And consumers, therefore, lose access to cheaper options they could find outside the APP Store environment. The European institution considers that Apple has failed to justify these limitations either as necessary or provided.
In addition to the economic sanction, Apple has been ordered to immediately eliminate any mechanism that prevents the free flow of information between developers and their users. The company must stop applying these restrictions and will not be able to recover these practices in the future. The commission, on the other hand, has closed another of its investigations against Apple, this time related to the selection screen of predetermined browsers and other system configurations, which has considered according to the regulations.
Will there be consequences for users?
From Cupertino they haven't taken to react. A company spokesman, in statements collected by CNN, has described the sanction as “another example of how the European Commission is unfairly attacking” the company. According to this source, they are forcing to “give their technology” and, despite having invested “hundreds of thousands of engineering hours” and having made “dozens of changes” to adapt to the legislation, the Commission continues to “change the rules of the game constantly.” Apple has already confirmed that The decision will resort.
The truth is that this fine has not caught anyone by surprise because the tension between the European and Apple Union has been increasing in recent years, especially after the entry into force of the Digital Markets Law. The regulations, which seeks to level the digital play and reduce the dependence of the users with respect to the large platforms, has put giants as Apple, Google or Amazon At the point of view.
The key will now be to see how Apple responds in the coming months and if it really adopts substantial changes in its business model in Europe or if, as has already happened on other occasions, opt for minimal measures while litigating in court. Be that as it may, it is about to see how customers affect, which will have to face broken dishes in the form of a Price climb or the withdrawal of some of the exclusive functions of their devices.
