Last 23 April, the European Commission found that Apple breached its anti-steering obligation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and that Meta breached the DMA obligation to give consumers the choice of a service that uses less of their personal data. Therefore, the Commission has fined Apple and Meta with €500 million and €200 million […]
Commission closes antitrust investigation into Apple’s rules for e-book/audiobook app developers
The Commission has decided to close its antitrust investigation into Apple’s allegedly anti-competitive behaviour in some of the terms it applies to developers of competing e-book/audiobook apps for the use of its App Store in the European Economic Area. On 16 June 2020, the Commission opened an antitrust investigation into (i) Apple’s rules imposing mandatory […]
Commission and national authorities call on Apple to stop geo-blocking practices on Apple Media Services
Today, following a coordinated investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified Apple of several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices that the CPC Network has identified on certain Apple Media Services, namely App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts. The network requested Apple […]
Commission starts first proceedings to specify Apple’s interoperability obligations under the Digital Markets Act
Last week , the European Commission started two specification proceedings to assist Apple in complying with its interoperability obligations under the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA’). Under the DMA, Apple must provide free and effective interoperability to third party developers and businesses with hardware and software features controlled by Apple’s operating systems iOS and iPadOS, designated under the DMA. The specification […]
Commission sends preliminary findings to Apple and opens additional non-compliance investigation against Apple under the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content. In addition, the Commission opened a new non-compliance procedure against Apple over concerns that its new contractual requirements for […]
Commission designates Booking as a gatekeeper and opens a market investigation into X
The European Commission has designated under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Booking as a gatekeeper for its online intermediation service Booking.com and decided not to designate X Ads and TikTok Ads. In parallel, the Commission has opened a market investigation to further assess the rebuttal submitted in relation to the online social networking service X. This decisions follow a […]
Commission designates Apple’s iPadOS as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission has designated Apple with respect to iPadOS, its operating system for tablets, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance of iPadOS with the DMA obligations. The investigation On 5 September 2023, the Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper for its operating system iOS, its […]
Commission fines Apple over €1.8 billion over abusive App store rules for music streaming providers
The European Commission has fined Apple over €1.8 billion for abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users (‘iOS users’) through its App Store. In particular, the Commission found that Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative […]
The European Commission has designated six gatekeepers – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft – under the Digital Markets Act
The European Commission has today designated, for the first time, six gatekeepers – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft – under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In total, 22 core platform services provided by gatekeepers have been designated. The six gatekeepers will now have six months to ensure full compliance with the DMA obligations for each of their designated core platform […]