500 million euro fine: Apple appeals against DMA fee
The dispute between Apple and the EU Commission over the App Store has reached the next stage of escalation. Apple explicitly appeals against a high fine.
iPhone in front of EU flag: Apple to pay hefty fine.
(Image: Ebru-Omer / Shutterstock.com)
Apple does not want to pay the total of 500 million euros that the European Commission imposed on the company in April for alleged violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The company has now officially appealed to the General Court of the European Union (EGC) because "we believe that the European Commission's decision – and its unprecedented fine – go far beyond what the law requires".
Apple: EU Commission controls App Store
The iPhone company hopes to use the appeal to show that the Commission is trying to control the operation of the App Store by order and "[imposing] terms and conditions that are confusing for developers and bad for users". Apple implemented the requirements to avoid daily fines, he said. "We will share with the court the facts."
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The question now is what chances Apple has in the proceedings, which could drag on for years. In the past, the company has already lost once before the European courts and had to pay a high back payment due to its Irish tax-saving model. It is therefore quite possible that the EU institutions will not agree with Apple. The appeal before the courts also means that the political side is no longer in control. Apple (also) seems to be hoping that the Trump administration will continue to exert pressure on the EU Commission, just as it did in Canada with a digital tax.
Confusing new regulations
Apple recently changed its app store rules in the EU again, causing massive confusion among developers, who are now confronted with different, sometimes unusable "tiers". Apple announced that it was implementing DMA requirements. Opponents such as Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney consider this to be "malicious compliance", i.e. malicious adjustments to the law.
Among other things, Apple should refrain from so-called steering and allow app providers to use their payment methods. However, Apple still wants to see money for this, as the company considers the use of its platform to be subject to a fee. With the new model, the costs are to fall to 20 percent instead of the current 30 percent, but only under certain circumstances. The whole model is perplexing. It is still unclear how the EU Commission will react to Apple's appeal. The appeal that has now been lodged should not be confused with another appeal that was lodged with the European Court of Justice at the beginning of June. In that case, Apple was concerned with EU obligations to make its platform more compatible with third-party providers and to give their devices access to more content.
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