Apple and the EU: Is there really no easier way?
The EU and Apple have been arguing about free market access for years. Apple warns of a loss of security. But something else is in danger of being lost.
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Apple is once again changing the rules in the EU section of the App Store. The €500 million fine imposed by the EU Commission and the deadline by which Apple has to remedy the alleged violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) forced the iPhone manufacturer to take action. However, the changes raise all kinds of new questions: On the surface, Apple is making it easier for users to take out subscriptions with alternative payment providers in future or to refer to offers on the web in the app. At the same time, however, the complexity of the new fee models for developers is growing massively. And this raises the question of whether the rules will even be accepted by the EU. For Apple users in the EU, the trials and tribulations that have been accompanying them for some time now are likely to continue.
The ongoing dispute between Apple and the EU Commission clearly shows one thing: it is much more difficult to regulate Apple's complex ecosystem than Brussels bureaucrats originally thought. Improvements for competition do not automatically result from knocking new doors and windows into the bricked-up house with the sledgehammer of the law. As happened with the alternative app stores, there are simply holes in the wall for the time being. But that doesn't mean someone will install a functioning new window.
Where has the simplicity gone?
In the worst case, it could even rain in through the new openings. This is the danger that Apple likes to emphasize. The EU is enabling major security threats and Apple is powerless in the face of them due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The boss in Cupertino paints a helpless picture of himself. But the iPhone manufacturer, which has had so many clever ideas over the decades, simply cannot be believed to be incapable of mastering this challenge.
Especially as security is really not the first thing that worries long-time Apple users and app developers when they follow this ongoing dispute. At least as things currently stand, it is more of an abstract, future-oriented danger. A truly concrete, present danger, on the other hand, is the loss of the simplicity that Apple has always stood for.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) has deprived Apple of this desire for simplicity. It seems that the lawyers are increasingly making business policy for the EU. This was the case right at the beginning, when Apple was adapting to the DMA: Only then it was still a parallel world with the alternative app stores, the core technology fee and tiered fee rates that users and developers could easily switch off if they didn't feel like it.
A fly on the wall in Brussels
It was therefore quite predictable that the EU would not see this as pro-competitive if alternatives existed but were hidden behind a curtain of deterrent extra fees. One would like to be a fly on the wall during the talks that have been taking place between Apple and the Commission in Brussels in recent months. Presumably, the Commission's initial appeal was that Apple should not treat developers who publish in alternative stores less favorably than those who publish with Apple. What happened next is shrouded in mystery. In any case, the result is that things are now getting worse for everyone. The Core Technology Commission and graduated fee models for developers are now set to make things more complicated for EU users too. If developers select a lower fee level, there will no longer be automatic updates and downloads for these apps. There would also be no ratings in the App Store. Who can still see through this?
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Is it Apple's fault that things have turned out this way? Or the EU? It is difficult to apportion blame, as it is not entirely clear who is talking past whom. Apple has long remained silent about how these talks with the EU actually work. It was only recently that information leaked out about how this should be understood. At Apple headquarters, there is talk of departmental thinking in Europe, where the competition authority refers matters of data protection to the other department. Or of a lack of technical expertise when it comes to assessing the impact of regulation. And last but not least, there are complaints that the Commission's wishes are constantly changing.
On the other hand, it seems that tech companies are quick to come up with complex solutions to meet even the simplest requirements of the DMA. And so, ultimately, the question remains: Is there really no simpler way?
(mki)
