The European Union has reached a verdict finding Apple guilty of breaking streaming rules and regulations and the phone giants have been slammed with a 1.8 billion euros fine.
The European Commission has imposed a fine of €1.1bn ($1.2bn) on Apple for violating antitrust laws. The penalty is for preventing Spotify and other music streaming services from informing users of payment options outside the Apple app store.
The EU competition enforcer found that Apple had abused its dominant position in the market by imposing restrictive rules on app developers that prevented them from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside the Apple ecosystem. These rules also required app developers to use Apple’s in-app purchase system, which charges a 30% commission fee.
The European Commission’s decision was triggered by a complaint from Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service, over this restriction and Apple’s 30% fee. The EU competition enforcer, Margrethe Vestager, said that Apple had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour for a decade and that its actions had harmed consumers by denying them choice and stifling innovation.
As part of the ruling, Vestager ordered Apple to remove all the restrictions and to refrain from similar practices in the future. Apple has said it will appeal against the decision, arguing that the ruling is unjustified and that there is no evidence that consumers have been harmed. The company also maintains that the ruling could have a chilling effect on innovation and investment in Europe.
The tech giants in an official statement stated, “The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast. The primary advocate for this decision, and the biggest beneficiary, is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation.”
