Apple already fined again →
source: 9to5mac.comLess than a day after I published my last post saying, “I cannot wait to see how the courts respond to this laughable policy.” here we are already seeing Apple being hit with another fine.
Chance Miller reporting for 9to5Mac:
Pretend to be shocked: Apple has been slapped with another fine of five million euros by the Authority for Consumers and Markets in the Netherlands. This comes after the Dutch watchdog took issue with Apple’s proposed plans for third-party App Store payments, and Apple has not yet addressed the regulator’s concerns.
The ACM is holding true to its plans to charge Apple a five million euro fine every week after Apple missed a January 15 deadline to address antitrust concerns around the App Store. This marks the third weekly fine so far, each one equal to five million euros or roughly $5.72 million, as reported by Reuters.
The regulatory pressure in the Netherlands centers on dating applications in the App Store. The Dutch watchdog ordered Apple to allow developers of dating applications in the Netherlands to use alternative payment systems. While Apple announced its plans to comply with these demands, the ACM didn’t find Apple’s announcement to be satisfactory.
Apple is intentionally making this difficult for developers to implement which is the actual bad acting aspect of this policy. The 27% number was shocking at first but when you consider Google’s similar actions with regard to South Korea in November of last year it isn’t actually that surprising. Should the ACM levy this fine against Apple on a weekly basis until they deem their implementations as full compliance? No. Apple is a slow moving ship and changes like this take time, the weekly fines are only going to sour the wine further.