French Court Levies Fine Against Apple for Abusive App Store Practices

Monday December 19, 2022 8:44 am PST by Juli Clover

The French Commercial Court in Paris today fined Apple $1 million for abusive App Store practices, reports Reuters. Apple imposed unfair commercial clauses on French app developers for access to the ‌App Store‌, according to the ruling.

iOS App Store General Feature Desaturated
The decision is the result of a multi-year investigation by France's consumer affairs and fraud watchdog (DGCCRF), overseen by the French ministry of finance. French finance minister Bruno Le Maire has been championing the rights of developers, and he believes that Apple and Google's app stores take advantage of software developers. His investigation found that there are "significant imbalances" in the relationships between Apple and Google and the developers that sell apps on those stores.

In a statement, Apple said that it will look into the court's decision and will continue to work with French developers. The company also said that it believes in "vibrant and competitive markets" that allow innovation to flourish.

We will review this French court decision closely and will continue working hard to deliver support for developers and a safe experience for users.

Through the App Store, we've helped French developers of all sizes share their passion and creativity with users around the world while creating a secure and trusted place for customers.

The fine that Apple has been hit with is minuscule in terms of the company's income, but it could potentially lead to orders for ‌App Store‌ rule changes.

Apple is dealing with several other inquiries into its ‌App Store‌ and business practices in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States, to name a few.

Tags: App Store, France

Top Rated Comments

ilikewhey

10 months ago

Apple store belongs to Apple and Google Play stop belongs to Google/Android Market. I hate when the government gets involved in tech companies' business models.

French Court should be fining Facebook/Metaverse for spying on privacy.

so which is it, govt should not get involved in tech companies' business models or govt' should get involved and levy fines against tech companiess' business models. ?

Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)

CyberDavis

At the risk of being controversial I think Apple should control the App Store, and indeed I think Google should control Google Play.
These companies spend millions building the infrastructure to manage app delivery etc and trying to ensure apps are safe, why should they not be able to profit from them?

If Netflix or Amazon buy a film no one criticises them if they keep it as an exclusive.
And no one bit buys one brand of car then complains they can’t buy it with a different brand engine.
I know that’s not a perfect example but hopefully close enough.

No one forces me to buy Apple products, I choose to because I like their eco system and products.
Having made that decision I’m happy that I have to use Apple App Store etc.
Apple make their products, I have no issue with them profiting from them if people choose to use apps, films, music etc.

I am not saying fees and charges are right, but the environment is one I’m happy with.

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)

cocky jeremy

Wow. If only these devs could choose to not work with Apple. I wonder how many guns Apple held to their heads to force them to develop for iOS?

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

purplerainpurplerain

This is a juicer fine. 520 times bigger.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/19/ftc-fines-fortnite-maker-epic-games-520m-over-childrens-privacy-charges/

Their CEO wants to force metaverse garbage on kids and that stuff tracks users everywhere. It tracks everything about users.

But yeah sure say Apple did something bad. Microsoft and Sony stores on consoles are the same as the iOS App Store.