Apple Antitrust

EU industry chief Thierry Breton today publicly called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to open the company's ecosystem of hardware and software to rivals (via Reuters). Following an in-person meeting with Cook earlier today in Brussels, Belgium, Breton told Reuters:The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors. Be it the...

Apple's App Store, Safari browser, and iOS operating system have today formally been designated as "gatekeepers" in the European Union, an official classification that requires adherence to strict new regulations (via Bloomberg). The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) seeks to curtail the power of major tech companies. Designated "gatekeeper" platforms will now face prohibition against favoring...

Apple argues that iMessage is not sufficiently popular to be classified as a "gatekeeper" under EU law, the Financial Times reports. The discussion comes ahead of the publication of the first list of services to be regulated by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation introduces new rules that apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their...

Apple has become the target of a £785 million ($1 billion) class action lawsuit on behalf of over 1,500 developers in the UK over its App Store fees, reports TechCrunch. The suit accuses Apple of abusing a dominant position by charging a 15% to 30% fee on in-app sales in the ‌App Store‌, a policy that has been criticized by antitrust regulators in other countries. It also argues UK...

Germany's Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office or FCO) antitrust authority today announced that Apple is subject to "extended abuse control" under the German Competition Act, which means that German regulators can prevent the company from engaging in "anti-competitive practices." FCO president Andreas Mundt said that Apple's economic position is not adequately controlled by competition,...

The UK's Competition and Market Authority (CMA) will not be looking into Apple's policies on mobile browsers and cloud gaming services after Apple won an appeal that will force the UK regulators to drop the investigation, reports Reuters. The CMA in November launched an investigation into the cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions put in place by both Apple and Google, suggesting that...

The European Commission today announced it has narrowed its antitrust investigation into Apple's rules for streaming music apps. In a revised Statement of Objections sent to Apple, the Commission said it will no longer challenge Apple's requirement for apps to use the App Store's in-app purchase system for digital goods and services. The investigation began in 2019 after Spotify filed an...

Google allegedly pays Apple a portion of all search revenue from Chrome for iOS in what appears to be a non-compete deal, The Register reports. According to a source said to be familiar with the matter who spoke to The Register, Google has been paying Apple a portion of search revenue generated by Chrome users on iOS in return for being the default search provider in Safari and other...

The U.S. Department of Justice has escalated its antitrust probe into Apple in recent months, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report claims additional litigators have been assigned to the case and new requests have been submitted for documents and consultations with companies connected to the investigation. As part of the probe, the report claims the Justice...

Google's Chromium developers are working on an experimental web browser for iOS that would break Apple's browser engine restrictions, The Register reports. The experimental browser, which is being actively pursued by developers, uses Google's Blink engine. Yet if Google attempted to release it on the App Store, it would not pass Apple's App Review process. Apple's ‌App Store‌ rules...

A report commissioned by the Biden administration this week recommended new legislation to make major changes to Apple's platform restrictions and App Store policies. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is the president's main advisor on telecommunications and Internet policy. In April last year, the NTIA announced that it had launched an investigation into...

Apple has filed an appeal against an investigation by the UK's competition authority into the company's dominance of mobile browsers and restrictions on cloud gaming (via Reuters). In November, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market investigation reference into Apple and Google's cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions. The CMA has examined Apple and Google's "effe...

The UK's competition watchdog has begun its investigation into the market dominance of Apple and Google's mobile browsers, months after it said it was considering a high-level probe. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Tuesday that responses to its June consultation had revealed "substantial support" for a full investigation into how Apple and Google dominate the market and ...

The ongoing legal battle between Apple and Epic Games resumed today, with lawyers for both companies meeting in the United States Court of Appeals to attempt to get the initial ruling from last year overturned. The ‌Epic Games‌ v. Apple saga started way back in 2020 when ‌Epic Games‌ started allowing Fortnite players to make purchases directly in the app, skirting the in-app purchase rules....

Apple and Amazon worked together to raise the price of iPhones and iPads by eliminating third-party Amazon sellers who offered Apple products at a lower cost, according to a new antitrust lawsuit filed today in Washington. The complaint, filed by Hagens Berman law firm, says that Apple and Amazon had an "unlawful horizontal agreement" that reduced the "competitive threat posed by third-party ...

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren this week penned a letter [PDF] to antitrust officials at the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, requesting that they investigate "Big Tech's expansion into the automotive industry." Warren specifically called out Google, Apple, and Amazon, saying that the companies are setting themselves up to be a "one-stop shop for automakers," for data...

New EU rules came into force today that could compel Apple to let users access third-party app stores and permit app sideloading on iPhones and iPads, among other sweeping changes designed to make the digital sector fairer and more competitive. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the rules will apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their various...

An administrative court in Italy today scrapped a €173.3 million ($170.4 million) fine leveled at Apple and Amazon last year for alleged anti-competitive cooperation when selling Apple and Beats products, Reuters reports. In November 2021, Italy's antitrust watchdog hit Apple and Amazon with a €200 million ($196 million) fine in the culmination of an investigation that began in 2020 over...

The United States Justice Department is in the early stages of crafting an antitrust complaint against Apple, reports Politico. A source that spoke to the site described the lawsuit as "potential," indicating that the DOJ's plans are not yet finalized. Prosecutors within the DOJ are said to be "assembling the pieces" for a lawsuit that could be filed by the end of the year, but the decision...

Apple is to again be investigated by South Korea's telecommunications regulator, alongside Google and One Store, over suspected violations of in-app payment rules. In a statement (via Reuters), the Korea Communications Commissions (KCC) said that it conducted an inspection of Apple, Google, and One Store since May 17 to determine if they have violated in-app payment laws, and concluded that...