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MOSCOW, February 18 The EU plans to impose a first-ever fine on Apple Corporation of 500 million euros for violating the law on access to streaming services, the Financial Times writes with citing five sources.
According to the publication, the European Commission was looking into whether Apple blocked the ability of applications to inform iPhone users about “cheaper alternatives” for accessing music subscriptions outside the App Store. The investigation began after Spotify filed a complaint with EU regulators in 2019.
«The fine, which will amount to around 500 million euros and could be announced early next month, is the culmination of the EC's antitrust investigation into whether Apple used its own platform to give preference to its services over those of competitors,” the article says.
The newspaper’s interlocutors explained that the EC recognizes Apple’s actions as illegal and inconsistent with the bloc’s rules on increasing competition in the market. The sources also said Brussels would accuse the US company of «abusing its powerful position» and imposing anti-competitive trade practices on rivals.
«Brussels will ban the company's (Apple — ed.) practice of blocking music services that allow people to switch to cheaper services,» the publication added.
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