Apple Formally Appeals DMA Penalty ⇥ 9to5mac.com
When Apple recently tried again to comply with European competition laws, I noticed some peculiar phrasing in its announcement:
The European Commission has required Apple to make a series of additional changes under the Digital Markets Act: […]
The wording of this sentence makes it sound like the list of specific policies following it were dictated by the European Commission, but I am not sure that is true.
This was not an accidental implication, as it turns out, if you believe Apple’s side of the story.
Chance Miller, 9to5Mac, reporting on Apple appealing the fines issued in April:
Furthermore, Apple says that the EU mandated that the Store Services Fee include multiple tiers. […]
Apple says that it was the EU who dictated which features should be included in which tier. For example, the EU mandated that Apple move app discovery features to the second tier.
Something isn’t adding up here. If the EU is dictating anything, it should be a 0% fee tier in addition to the standard App Store paid tier. Why would the EU be moving features to the second tier? Either Apple isn’t communicating the full story, or negotiations between Apple and the EU are very dysfunctional.
If regulators have taken on such an involved role in App Store policy, one has to wonder when that started. Was it the result of the April penalty, or has it been an ongoing conversation? If it is the latter, it suggests many other questions.