E-commerce giant MercadoLibre said on Monday it has filed complaints against Apple with antitrust regulators in Brazil and Mexico for anti-competitive practices. MercadoLibre accuses Apple of abusing what it deemed a monopoly in the distribution of apps for its devices.
In a statement, the e-commerce giant said that Apple had imposed a series of restrictions on the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases, including banning apps from distributing third-party digital goods and services such as movies, music, video games, books and written content.
In the complaint, the South American company criticized the California tech giant for requiring developers who offer digital goods or services within apps to use Apple’s own payment system and stopping them from redirecting buyers to their websites.
MacDailyNews Take: Are, for example, Best Buy and Target ordered to place signs next to each product that advertise lower prices for the same items at Walmart?
Of course, not. That would be ludicrous.
If Apple is ever forced to allow developers like MercadoLibre advertise lower prices elsewhere using Apple’s App Store, Apple should simply charge an in-store advertising fee. We suggest it be exactly 15% for developers making under $1 million per year and 30% for those making $1 million or more annually. 🙂
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This won’t help Apple set up an alternative factory in Brazil to China for assembling their products.