It has recently come to light that the tech giant, Apple, has been fined more than €1.8 billion by the European Commission for stifling competition between Apple Music and rival music streaming services such as Spotify, who initially logged a complaint against the tech giant for their breach of competition law within the EU five years ago.

It is said that Apple charges fees of up to 30% for music subscriptions bought through apps, meaning many streaming companies have been forced into offering cheaper alternatives on their website or stopped offering in-app subscriptions altogether, which triggered Spotify to make a complaint against the tech giant.

Do you think Apple was fair in implementing such restrictions against music streaming services?

Margrethe Vestager, a Danish politician, said that the tech giant had broken EU antitrust rules for a decade by “restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem”; thus, this ultimately amounted to an abuse of power that the tech giant obtains on its App Store.

It was discussed by Shiona McCallum, a technology reporter for BBC News, that Apple was fined €1.8 billion by the EU for breaking streaming rules. In January, Apple announced its plans to allow EU customers to download apps outside of their own app store, as the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) drew closer.

The aim of the EU Digital Markets Act is to help competition within the technology sector and to attempt to break down the stronghold the likes of Apple and other tech giants have on the market, basically creating a fair playing field for tech companies.

Last week, Spotify and 33 other companies operating across a wide range of digital sectors had written to the European Commission discussing Apple’s “lack of compliance” with the DMA, where it was stated, “Apple’s new terms not only disregard both the spirit and letter of the law, but if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA and the considerable efforts by the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets competitive,” it said.

Do you think a fine of €1.8 billion for a business worth $3 trillion is or is not a harsh enough punishment?

Do you think Apple should have the right to impose restrictions on music streaming services on their own application platform?

See also:

Apple fined €1.8bn for breaking EU law over music streaming (ft.com)

Apple’s €1.8bn EU fine may be just the start of reining in Big Tech – The Irish Times

Emerging Developments within Technology and Law – A Tech News Thursday Article

Apple fined €1.8bn by EU for breaking streaming rules – BBC News