The Dutch Authority for Consumers & Market (ACM) watchdog is claiming that Apple’s App Store commissions violate the EU’s antitrust rules.
Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News:
In a confidential decision seen by Bloomberg, the Dutch regulator said Apple’s rules unfairly target companies that offer subscription services, such as Match Group Inc.’s dating app Tinder, which has to pay high commission rates on app sales, unlike ones that don’t have paid digital content.
Apple harms such companies “by charging them an additional and inexplicably higher fee,” according to the Dutch decision, which was sent in July.
Apple had earlier offered to reduce app sale commission in the Netherlands from 30% to 27%, but the ACM’s confidential findings state this offer doesn’t go far enough…
The company can oppose the ACM’s findings or attempt to remedy the concerns by restructuring its commissions.
MacDailyNews Take: Let the Netherlands court system decide as the ACM lost the plot long ago, if it ever had it to begin with.
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Personally, I don’t care how much they charge. Charge what the market will bear, or not. Being the sole store is anticompetitive, even if free.
You can sell subscriptions on the web for no fees. You can distribute web apps outside the App Store. Maybe not as convenient but these work.
According to this ruling I can go to Disneyland and setup a booth selling Bugs Bunny swag.
The store is Apple’s property. The hardware is ours, the Apps are their respective owners. They are inhibiting my property by forcing a single store.
Disneyland owns their property. Apple sold us the devices.