Paris Commercial Court fines Apple over 'abusive' App Store policy
On Monday, the Paris Commercial Court issued a $1.06 million fine against Apple over abusive App Store commercial clauses affecting French app developers.
App Store
The ruling imposed a fine of just over one million euros ($1.06 million) on Apple. Reuters reports it also said there wasn't a need to force the company to change its clauses because the upcoming Digital Markets Act from the European Union would require changes anyway.
An Apple spokesman said the company would review the ruling and believed "in vibrant and competitive markets where innovation can flourish."
The decision is the culmination of a years-long investigation that the French government started in 2018. France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire claimed that when developers sell apps to Apple and Google, "their prices are imposed, Google and Apple take all their data, Google and Apple can unilaterally rewrite their contracts."
Between 2015-2017, Le Maire's investigation found "significant imbalances" in the relationship between developers who create the apps and the companies operating the app stores.
In August, French app developers also launched a class-action lawsuit against Apple over App Store fees. In association with Paris-based lawyer Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi representing the Le GESTE group, American law firm Hagens Berman filed an antitrust suit in California.
Hagens Berman had successfully forced Apple to change US App Store policies in 2021, allowing developers to directly contact customers via email or other means to discuss alternative payment methods. The company also created a $100 million Small Developer Assistance Fund to assist small developers in the US.
Depending on their size, companies that earned $1 million or less annually across all apps between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021, could claim between $250 to $30,000 from the fund.
Read on AppleInsider
App Store
The ruling imposed a fine of just over one million euros ($1.06 million) on Apple. Reuters reports it also said there wasn't a need to force the company to change its clauses because the upcoming Digital Markets Act from the European Union would require changes anyway.
An Apple spokesman said the company would review the ruling and believed "in vibrant and competitive markets where innovation can flourish."
The decision is the culmination of a years-long investigation that the French government started in 2018. France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire claimed that when developers sell apps to Apple and Google, "their prices are imposed, Google and Apple take all their data, Google and Apple can unilaterally rewrite their contracts."
Between 2015-2017, Le Maire's investigation found "significant imbalances" in the relationship between developers who create the apps and the companies operating the app stores.
In August, French app developers also launched a class-action lawsuit against Apple over App Store fees. In association with Paris-based lawyer Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi representing the Le GESTE group, American law firm Hagens Berman filed an antitrust suit in California.
Hagens Berman had successfully forced Apple to change US App Store policies in 2021, allowing developers to directly contact customers via email or other means to discuss alternative payment methods. The company also created a $100 million Small Developer Assistance Fund to assist small developers in the US.
Depending on their size, companies that earned $1 million or less annually across all apps between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021, could claim between $250 to $30,000 from the fund.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
OK, but developers do NOT sell their apps to either Google or Apple, the companies just host them on a storefront. Also Apple and Google do NOT impose a price, that is entirly up to the developer, free, .99, 1.99, 99.99 that’s all up to the developer. Both points are easily demonstrable, and well understood.
Except of course to this court.
It's Apple's store - if they want to change terms and conditions, they can do so.
I think europe is just pissed that Apple and Google are from outside the EU and want to punish 'em for that travesty.
For me, it always comes down to whether or not an alternative exists. The role of government is RARELY to force companies or individuals into a particular course of action; what the government should work towards is making sure VIABLE ALTERNATIVES exist so that a competitive market allows users to choose what suits them best. Competition implies differences, enforcing limits on these differences is obviously going to reduce competition: the trick is balancing things to minimise harms and maximise benefits.
As long as the web exists as a platform, I find it really difficult to condone government interference in this matter. With the App Store, Apple is providing an alternative to the web. This alternative offers much higher profit potential, but it also comes with significant restrictions. These restrictions are published up front; if you don't like the rules then don't play the game.
It's not like the web doesn't have significant problems - there is effectively zero interest in increasing privacy, in reducing security issues or in enhancing accessibility for those with vision or movement problems. There is some effort to work with OS vendors to extend native device capabilities to the web, but only to the extent that the functionality becomes available and not to the point where it becomes secure. But nobody wants to blame the various web consortia and exhort them to do better - it's all "evil Apple" and "evil Google" (OK, the latter does have a point) who are trying to "restrict commercial interests" by charging for access to their platforms.