Dutch Regulators Order Apple to Loosen Its Stranglehold on App Store Purchases

A regulatory body in the Netherlands has ordered Apple to allow third parties to offer alternative payment options through their apps, a ruling that strikes at one of the company’s core revenue streams — although the ruling will not apply outside the country.

Apple currently takes a hefty chunk of revenue from third-party developers, claiming between 15 and 30 percent of all purchases and subscription fees made on apps downloaded through the iTunes store, which is the only way to install third-party apps on Apple devices.

This tax is obtained by channeling purchases and subscriptions through Apple’s native payments systems.  The ruling in the Netherlands means that, in that country, third-party apps will be able to offer alternative payment methods to users.

Via Reclaim the Net:

In the Netherlands, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has ordered Apple to make changes to what it said were “the unreasonable conditions in its App Store” concerning in-app payment, and rectify them by offering alternative payment systems.

Announcing the details of the decision to mandate that Apple must make these changes, the ACM, after probing the App Store practices since 2019, essentially described Apple as a monopoly (“abusing its dominant position”), which for that reason has “special” responsibilities not to harm all those developers dependent on it and take their interest into account as well, by providing “reasonable conditions.”

If Apple decides to ignore implementing these changes by January 15, Dutch regulators will fine it with €5 million each week, with the cap for the total figure set at €50 million.

Apple is facing a number of lawsuits around the world over third-party payments. In September, Epic Games scored a partial victory against Apple in California.

Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.