European Commission

Despite pushback from Apple, the European Parliament in January voted overwhelmingly for new rules to establish a common charging standard for mobile device makers across the European Union. This article explores what form the EU laws might ultimately take and how they could affect Apple device users in Europe and elsewhere. What Exactly is the EU Calling For? To reduce cost, electronic...

The European Commission will this week bring charges against Apple over concerns that its App Store rules break EU competition law, reports the Financial Times. The charges relate to a two-year-old antitrust dispute with Spotify. Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition chief, will late this week publicly issue charges against Apple over concerns that the rules it sets for developers on its...

EU regulators are in the process of finalizing a charge sheet against Apple, initiated by an antitrust complaint from Spotify (via Reuters). In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission, alleging that Apple enforces App Store rules that "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience," accusing the company of "acting as both a player...

Epic Games has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in the European Union, broadening its legal battle against the tech giant by attempting to appeal to the EU's differing interpretation of antitrust issues compared to those in the United States (via The Wall Street Journal). Last September, ‌Epic Games‌‌‌ added a Fortnite update that allowed customers to purchase in-game currency direc...

TikTok on Tuesday was targeted by EU consumer protection groups for allegedly violating the bloc's consumer laws and for failing to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content (via Reuters). The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) lodged a complaint against the short video-sharing app with the European Commission, citing several issues in its complaint, one of which...

The European Union has set out its grounds of appeal against Apple's victory in its $13 billion euro ($15.8 billion) tax dispute, saying that judges used "contradictory reasoning" when they ruled that Apple's business in Ireland was not liable for significant payments (via Bloomberg). In a summary of its appeal published earlier today, the EU set out its determination to challenge the court...

Big tech companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook, could soon face new wide-reaching regulations in the European Union, under new legislation presented today by the European Commission (via CNBC). Amid concern for smaller European companies looking to compete in the European market, the European Commission today presented two new pieces of legislation that aim to strictly...

The European Commission on Friday said it would appeal a court ruling that overturned its demand that Apple pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in tax to the Irish government (via CNBC). "The Commission has decided to appeal before the European Court of Justice the General Court's judgment of July 2020 on the Apple State aid case in Ireland," Margrethe Vestager, the head of competition policy...

Apple is facing another antitrust complaint in Europe, this time from the developers of encrypted messaging app Telegram. In a complaint to the EU Commission, the app's creators argue that Apple must give iOS users the opportunity to download software outside of the App Store. The Financial Times reports: In a complaint to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, Telegram, which has more...

Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and other voice assistants and connected home products are the target of a new Internet of Things probe the European Commission launched today. The European Commission says that it's aiming to prevent big companies from becoming "gatekeepers" of the Internet of Things through market domination and data collection. The potential is incredible. But we'll only...

The EU General Court today overturned a ruling by the European Commission stating that Apple should pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in tax to the Irish government. The court sided with Apple, and said the EU authority, led by antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, had failed to show Ireland's tax arrangements with the company were illegal state aid. Today's decision can be appealed. Both ...

The European Commission today said it has opened two formal antitrust investigations into Apple's App Store and Apple Pay mobile payment system. The first investigation will assess whether Apple's rules for app developers on the distribution of apps via the ‌App Store‌ violate EU competition rules. It will focus in particular on the mandatory use of Apple's own in-app purchases system...

Apple is facing another European antitrust complaint, this time over its 30 percent cut on ebooks in the App Store. The complaint was made to the European Commission by Rakuten's Kobo subsidiary, which alleges that Apple's commission rate is anti-competitive when it also promotes its own Apple Books service. According to a Financial Times report, Kobo argues that having to pay Apple 30...

Despite criticism from Apple, EU lawmakers on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor for new rules to establish a common charger for all mobile device makers across Europe (via Reuters). Members of the European Parliament voted by 582-40 for a resolution urging the European Commission, which drafts EU laws, to ensure that EU consumers are no longer obliged to buy new chargers with each new...

With goals of reducing waste and increasing convenience, European lawmakers today will debate whether all smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices should have a standardized charging port such as USB-C. At least some members of the European Parliament want "binding measures" that ensure one type of charger is compatible with all portable devices, as the European Commission's previous...

Apple has filed a response to Spotify's anticompetitive complaint about the App Store in Europe, noting that Spotify pays Apple a 15 percent commission for only about 0.5 percent of its paying subscribers, according to CNET. That figure equates to around 680,000 users who subscribed to Spotify through its iOS app, via Apple's in-app purchase system, between 2014 and 2016. This is because...

The European Commission is awaiting a response from Apple after Spotify accused the iPhone maker of anticompetitive business practices in relation to its App Store, said the European Union's antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager. "We are looking into that and we have been asking questions around in that market but of course also Apple themselves, for them to answer the allegations. And when...

Apple is to be formally investigated by the European Commission after Spotify accused the company of using the App Store to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. According to a report by the Financial Times, EU competition commission has decided to launch a formal antitrust investigation into Apple's conduct "in the next few weeks" after surveying customers, rivals and others in...

Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, accusing the iPhone maker of enforcing App Store rules that "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience" and "acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers." In a blog post, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek took particular issue with...

The European Commission today announced it has opened an in-depth investigation into Apple's proposed acquisition of Shazam. The regulators are concerned that the merger could reduce choice for users of streaming music services in Europe. In particular, they believe that Apple could gain access to sensitive data that could allow Apple to directly target its competitors' customers and...

The European Commission today announced it has set a provisional deadline of April 23 to decide on Apple's proposed acquisition of Shazam. Last month, the regulatory body said it would consider whether Apple's purchase of the popular music identification service may lead to a significant adverse effect on competition in Europe, after Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden ...