MILAN – New round between Brussels and Big Tech. The European Commission officially communicated to Apple what had been in the air for a few days: the preliminary opinion according to which the App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from freely directing consumers to alternative channels for offers and content.
Furthermore, the Commission has opened a new non-compliance procedure against Apple due to concerns that its new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores, including Apple’s new “Core technology fee”, are not capable of ensuring effective compliance with Apple’s obligations under the DMA.
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“Today is a very important day for the effective application of the DMA: we have sent the preliminary results to Apple. Our preliminary position is that Apple does not completely allow steering” that is, the possibility of directing users towards alternative channels. This is the comment of the vice president of the European Commission with responsibility for Antitrust, Margrethe Vestager. “The directive is crucial to ensuring that app developers are less dependent on gatekeeper app stores and that consumers are aware of better offers. We have also opened cases against Apple in relation to its so-called core technology commission and various rules to enable third-party app stores and sideloading. The developer community and consumers are eager to offer alternatives to the App Store. We will investigate to ensure that Apple does not undermine these efforts,” he added.
In detail, according to the DMA, developers who distribute their apps through the Apple App Store should be able, free of charge, to inform their customers about cheaper alternative purchasing options, direct them towards these offers and allow them to make acquisitions.
The new investigation opened today – the third – concerns non-compliance with Apple’s new contractual terms for developers as a condition for accessing some of the new features allowed by the DMA, in particular the provision of alternative app stores or the possibility of offering an app via an alternative distribution channel. Apple has so far maintained the option to subscribe to the previous conditions, which do not allow alternative distribution channels at all.
In particular, the so-called Apple’s Core Technology Fee, under which app store and third-party app developers must pay a fee of 0.50 euros for each app installed. And also the “multi-step path” that the Apple user must take to download and install app stores or alternative apps on iPhones. Finally, the requirements that developers must meet to offer alternative app stores or to directly distribute apps from the web on iPhones.
