Apple found guilty of abusing its monopoly on dating apps

The court found that Apple forced dating app developers to use Apple's own payment system, prohibiting them from directing users to outside payment options.

The Rotterdam District Court (Netherlands) declared that Apple abused its dominant position in the market by imposing unfair terms on dating app developers on the App Store.

In its ruling on June 16, the court said that the Dutch Authority for Consumer Affairs and Markets (ACM) was absolutely correct in concluding that Apple had violated competition regulations. Accordingly, the ACM had a legal basis to issue a request to change behavior with sanctions for non-compliance.

The court found that Apple forced dating app developers to use its own payment system, barred them from directing users to outside payment options, and charged a commission of up to 30% (15% for smaller developers) on each transaction, a fee that many criticized as excessive and damaging to developers.

Apple immediately announced that it would appeal the ruling. An Apple spokesperson said: “The ruling undermines the technology and tools we create to support developers and protect user privacy and security. We will appeal.”

Earlier in 2021, the ACM fined Apple 50 million euros ($58 million) for failing to comply with requirements regulating business conduct.

The agency believes that Apple has violated the antitrust laws of the European Union (EU)./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/apple-nhan-phan-quyet-lam-dung-vi-the-doc-quyen-doi-voi-cac-ung-dung-hen-ho-post1044816.vnp