Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, has criticized Apple for disregarding the European Union’s regulations on major tech companies. He has called on regulators to stand firm against White House warnings of reprisals over imposed fines.
Samuel Stolton for Bloomberg News:
Ek said that the iPhone maker’s attempts to step into line with the EU’s Digital Markets Act are a “farce.” Instead, he said Apple used a “well-established pattern of delaying and stalling” its compliance with the DMA, which sets strict guardrails on the behavior of the most powerful tech firms.
“It is time for Europe to show that we are going to enforce the law that’s already been passed,” Ek said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, adding that crackdowns on Apple’s conduct had also become a focus for regulators in the US.
EU competition chief Teresa Ribera has previously promised to rule on Apple’s compliance with the DMA by the end of March. The law gives her the power to levy fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue. But the bloc is at risk of provoking US President Donald Trump, who last week signed a memorandum threatening retaliatory tariffs against “disproportionate” penalties.
MacDailyNews Note: In October 2024, just prior to President Trump’s election win, Apple CEO Tim Cook called President Trump to discuss the $17 billion in fines that Apple has been hit with by the European Union (EU). Trump said that he wouldn’t allow the EU “take advantage” of American companies like Apple.
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That’s all the EU does is fine, tax, and punish. They have no elected leader because they don’t trust democracy.