EU antitrust chief to Tim Cook: Apple must allow third-party app stores
The European Union's Margrethe Vestager has met with leaders of US Big Tech firms to discuss their operations in the EU, and with Apple's Tim Cook concentrated on the App Store and Apple Music.
Margrethe Vestager (left) and Tim Cook at Apple Park (Souce: Margrethe Vestager)
As previously announced, Vestager came to San Francisco and Palo Alto to speak specifically with the heads of Apple, Google, Broadcom, and Nvidia. Her meetings continue on Friday, but on January 11, 2024, she met with Tim Cook at Apple Park.
Neither the EU nor Apple have released any details of the meeting, but Vestager has posted a very brief summary on Twitter/X.
2 main points from my meeting w/ @tim_cook @apple
compliance w/ #DMA, e.g. @Apple's obligation to allow the distribution of #apps outside the @AppStore
ongoing @EU_Competition cases e.g. @AppleMusic pic.twitter.com/G2gP51IW8L-- Margrethe Vestager (@vestager)
According to Vestager, then, the discussion at least centered on the long-standing issue of whether Apple should allow third-party alternatives to the App Store. It's possible that Cook continued Apple's argument that the company runs five comparatively small App Stores instead of one large one, which is what would qualify it for EU regulation.
The meeting also covered Apple Music and the EU's investigation into its alleged antitrust actions. It's not clear what form any discussions could take, though, as the EU has already ruled that Apple Music violates EU antitrust rules.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Google, Microsoft etc. do get special consideration, if anything comes up wrong with them, only executive level positions have the authority to issue directives.
Some time ago I tried to side load a pirated movie app on Android and Play Protect warned me that the app had malicious code.
We should see an announcement for an upcoming iPhone with a removable battery, running multiple app stores and unrestricted access to NFC, next week.
My work provided Mac has TouchID and AirDop disabled, you need special training to be able to install apps, and it has a virus/malware scanner. What a waste. There's going to be a lot of wasted CPU cycles running virus scanning software on iPhones.
Probably next.