EU might fine Apple for failure to comply with DMA, for real this time
The European Union's Digital Markets Act may lead to the first fine against Apple after repeated failed attempts to comply with the word and spirit of the law.
EU could fine Apple soon over failure to comply with DMA
Apple has had a tough time trying to comply with the new laws meant to prevent monopolies from controlling a market. Specifically, Apple's anti-steering practices keep coming under fire.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the EU may be gearing up to fine Apple for failure to comply with the DMA, though details are still unknown. The fine could be levied before Margrethe Vestager leaves office in November, or it could be pushed to a later date in 2024.
The anonymous sources state Apple could be hit with one big fine that is followed up with periodic penalty payments as long as Apple isn't in compliance. Though, the report fails to state exactly how Apple isn't complying with the law and what is drawing the potential fine in November.
Despite Apple's claims that it has complied with the laws each time, it has continued to morph and change its own rules in an attempt to satisfy regulators. The most recent change came in November, removing basically all anti-steering practices and eliminating the Core Technology Fee for all but 1% of iOS apps.
It isn't clear if Tuesday's reports of a fine are about Apple having not implemented these changes yet, or if these proposed changes still aren't enough. The fine could be as much as 10% of global annual sales or 5% of average daily revenue.
A previous report in June suggested Apple was about to be fined then, but it didn't happen. These insider sources may hear rumblings of plans, but ultimately it's up to the EU watchdogs to make a ruling.
Apple's controversial response to the DMA has come under constant scrutiny from the start. Regulators argue that Apple may be complying with the letter of the law, but not the spirit, which drives developers away from taking advantage of the provided solutions.
The saga will inevitably continue for months or years to come as the EU continues to browbeat Apple for complying with the DMA the wrong way. There's no telling what Apple can do to satisfy the antitrust watchdogs beyond not charging any money and allowing users to do whatever they please.
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Comments
Regarding Apple Intelligence, it’s completely reasonable for Apple not to release it in the EU until there is more clarity around how it fits, or doesn’t, with the DMA. Apple Intelligence isn’t an app, it’s deeply ingrained in the OS. Note, too, that Apple Intelligence is only being withheld in the EU on iOS and iPadOS, not on macOS, which isn’t considered a “gatekeeper”.
I believe Apple can bring it to the EU court who tend to be more careful about these matters. The EU's competition watchdogs seem to be operating under no coherent legal or economic principles except "We don't like non-EU companies to be too big or too profitable."
Even Canada doesn't get Apple Intelligence until next month. Even if Apple wanted to include Europe, it can't launch Apple Intelligence until it is localized in Euro languages. That will probably happen starting with 18.2, for at least some countries.
# Seems like Ms. Vestager does not want to even tell Apple how to avoid the fine because she just want the fine paid first then she will let them know. Courts should have something to say about that.
The problem seems to me to be that the law is specifically designed to penalize Apple and empty Apple's pockets. As such, it will be nigh impossible for Apple to actually comply with the law, as the EU will simply reinterpret the "spirit" of the law to something else. Goalpost moving is common among confiscatory governments, and I am not excluding some U.S. agencies.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_5681 I own no shares in Corning Glass but just because you design and engineer better than the competition that doesn’t make you uncompetitive, long-term. I don’t hold out any hope that things will really change however.
The EU is in someways worse than China. China will just steal/reverse engineer and move on and later undercut you in price the EU seems to be more insidious time wasting in their methods.