(TheConservativeTimes.org) – The European Union has announced a $1 billion fine against Apple for its first antitrust penalty.
The EU has fined Apple for unfairly promoting and favoring its own music streaming service against competitors. According to the European Union, Apple prevented other developers from “fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services outside of the app.”
This is illegal and they said that Apple has behaved this way for almost 10 years now. The claim comes five years after Spotify made a complaint regarding Apple’s music streaming services
Apple did agree to appear in court and they released a statement saying “The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.”
The main music streaming service behind the investigation and fine is the largest music streaming service, Spotify, which has “met with the European Commission more than 65 times during this investigation.”
This isn’t the first investigation or crackdown that the EU has implemented on these larger tech companies. They’ve also fined other companies such as Google and Apple for their mobile payment service.
However, now the EU is focused on Apple and how they are pushing their music streaming apps above others and hiding more affordable ways to pay for music subscriptions.
Following this, the EU is implementing new guidelines that would prevent tech giants from dominating digital markets in the way they’ve seen recently. The Digital Markers Act has set out the “dos and don’ts” of companies such as Apple, Google, Meta, and TikTok.
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