As always, the devil is in the details. While the United States Supreme Court declined to hear appeals by Apple and Epic Games, a California court decision, which forces the Apple firm to allow iOS apps to redirect users to their own websites and payment methods, comes into effect. No problem, says Apple, which updated its rules and announced that developers must pay a 27% commission (and 12% for small businesses) on these external transactions. Epic boss Tim Sweeney has vowed to take legal action against this “bad faith” application for an injunction.
Epic actually attacked Apple, which imposes a 30% commission on all in-app purchases. MinecraftSpotify or Fortnite. A California judge generally ruled in Apple’s favor, rejecting the qualification of a monopoly, while forcing the company not to ban external links. On the other hand, Apple is not forced to authorize alternative app stores as Epic demands.
The DMA law comes into effect in Europe on March 7
In Europe the situation is different. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into effect on March 7. It will apply to five American tech giants (Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta/Facebook, Microsoft) and Chinese ByteDance, the owner of TikTok.
The law would specifically force these “gatekeepers” (“access controllers”) to authorize the “side loading” (downloading and installation of unauthorized applications) of alternative application stores or applications. Clearly, the text wants to force Big Tech players to open up their closed platforms.
Several groups have appealed this European regulation but their appeals are not suspensive, and Apple has indicated it will comply with the new limits. It remains to be seen whether the company will find ways to impose its hidden “tax”.
