2024-03-04 14:36:49
The European Union fines Apple $1.95 billion for monopoly
The American company Apple was subjected to a fine of more than 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion), today, Monday, from the European Union due to monopoly, which is the first ever that the company has been subjected to in Europe. This is according to a report by Reuters on Monday.
The European Commission’s decision to fine Apple came due to a complaint filed by the Swedish music streaming service Spotify in 2019, regarding this restriction and Apple’s 30% App Store fee.
The European Union Competition Authority said the company’s restrictions constituted unfair trading conditions, a relatively new argument in an antitrust case. The same argument was also used by the Dutch antitrust agency in a decision against the company in 2021 in a case brought by dating app providers.
“For a decade, Apple has abused its dominant market position to distribute music streaming apps through the App Store,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
“They did this by preventing developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside Apple’s ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” she added. For its part, Apple criticized the European Union’s decision, saying it would challenge it in court.
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