Technology Apple’s Plans for the DMA in the European Union

[vtqhtr413]

Content source

https://daringfireball.net/2024/01/apples_plans_for_the_dma

Apple yesterday announced a broad, wide-ranging, and complex set of new policies establishing their intended compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect March 7. There is a lot to remark upon and numerous remaining questions, but my favorite take was from Sebastiaan de With on Twitter/X, the day before any of this was announced. After quipping “Oh god please no” to a screenshot of the phrase “Spotify also wants to roll out alternate app stores”, de With had this conversation:

Apple’s Plans for the DMA in the European Union

The delicious irony in Apple’s not knowing if these massive proposals will be deemed DMA-compliant is that their dealings with the European Commission sound exactly like App Store developers’ dealings with Apple. Do all the work to build it first, and only *then* find out if it passes muster...

daringfireball.net

 

[ZeroStrawberries]

From what it seems, this will only apply in the EU, other regions will not get any benefits of the DMA.

To qualify for the entitlement, you must:
...
Provide Apple a stand-by letter of credit from an A-rated (or equivalent by S&P, Fitch, or Moody’s) financial Institution of €1,000,000 to establish adequate financial means in order to guarantee support for your developers and users.

iOS apps distributed from the App Store and/or an alternative app marketplace will pay €0.50 for each first annual install per year over a 1 million threshold.

The organizations need to have €1 Million in credit from a bank to even launch a third-party marketplace, and every app download will cost €0.50, excluding the first million downloads. The cost for each download will also apply to Apple's App Store if a third-party marketplace is created.

It sounds like monopolistic behavior, to make it as difficult as possible or even next-to impossible for competitors.

Apple - Getting started as an alternative app marketplace in the European Union
TechCrunch - Apple’s answer to EU’s gatekeeper rules is new ‘core tech’ fee for apps

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

EU Competition Chief Suggests Apple’s Core Technology Fee May Not Be DMA Compliant

After the EU’s Digital Markets Act required Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and other tech giants to open up some of their platforms to better support competition, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager suggested yesterday that Apple’s DMA changes in iOS 17.4 may not go far enough. In an interview with Reuters, Vestager pointed out Apple’s new €0.50 Core Technology Fee as something that the EU Commission could be investigating.

“There are things that we take a keen interest in, for instance, if the new Apple fee structure will de facto not make it in any way attractive to use the benefits of the DMA. That kind of thing is what we will be investigating,” Vestager said in the interview.

As a reminder, Apple’s Core Technology Fee will only apply to developers who adopt Apple’s new business terms for iOS apps distributed in the EU. The €0.50 fee will kick on for each first annual app install per year over a 1 million threshold, and this will affect apps distributed via Apple’s App Store as well as alternative marketplaces.

EU Competition Chief Suggests Apple's Core Technology Fee May Not Be DMA Compliant

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said yesterday that the fee structure in Apple’s new developer terms for the EU is something that the Commission could be investigating.

www.thurrott.com