Apple Loses EU Fight Over App Store Gatekeeper Label (macrumors.com)
- Reference: 0184361396
- News link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/26/07/08/1638234/apple-loses-eu-fight-over-app-store-gatekeeper-label
- Source link: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/08/apple-loses-eu-fight-app-store-gatekeeper-label/
> Apple took its case to Luxembourg's General Court in 2024 after the European Commission designated its five App Stores -- on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch -- as a single core platform service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a label that brings with it a set of strict obligations. Designated "gatekeepers" are prohibited from favoring their own services over those of rivals, and are prevented from combining personal data across different services. They also have to give users the option to use alternative app stores.
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> Apple also challenged the EU's designation of iOS as a gateway platform, a status that requires the operating system allows rival services to interoperate with it. The company also disputed the classification of iMessage as a number-independent interpersonal communications service, or NIICS, which would subject the app to EU telecoms rules. But the General Court said Apple's actions regarding the iMessage service are inadmissible.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/eu-court-rejects-apples-challenge-against-eu-rules-reining-big-tech-2026-07-08/
[2] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/08/apple-loses-eu-fight-app-store-gatekeeper-label/
Not really surprising (Score:2)
Apple had to try to avoid the designation (the restrictions and requirements were not to Apple's liking (and profit margins)). And the attempt was also almost certainly doomed to fail.
Digital Markets Act (Score:2)
I agree that this sector needs to be regulated in order for there to be a fair playing field for all participants. But let's not forget that DMA was written with Apple and Google in mind, it is not much surprise that their cases are going to be lost in the EU.
Re: (Score:1)
it was written specifically to punish Apple and Google for doing things that were not, and still are not, illegal. the EU is dead set on breaking up technology to the detriment of the users.
users want interoperability, users want info shared across services, etc we see it every day. and if you work support, doubly so.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not going to carry water for trillion dollar corporations that rake in record profits every year through subtle and not-so-subtle anti-competitive practices.
The users currently get a walled garden system. With Apple locking other markets out almost entirely. And Google playing whack-o-mole with user-installed open source markets and subtle limitations for OEMs that want to maintain capability with Play store but also run their own store and own search partner.
The current market is not consumer friendly.
Re: Digital Markets Act (Score:2)
Users want interoperability and apple is against it
Re: (Score:2)
> it was written specifically to punish... for doing things that were not, and still are not, illegal.
You seem to have been dropped on your head once too many times as a child.
The whole point of a new law is that it changes what is legal. So if something was legal and a new law changes that, that's intentional. It's the purpose of legislation and rulemaking. To change the rules.
Also, if it was still not illegal, then wouldn't be any complaint from the perp about getting busted...
And you actually know the intent was to change the rules, because you start off with a claim that the change was intended to cha
Re: (Score:2)
Monopolies have always been illegal and should be appropriately dealt with.
A lot of the monopolies in tech benefit the USA a lot, but basically suck the rest of the world dry. Go to a given website: it's AWS; search for anything: one way or the other, it's Google (Alphabet); The dominant desktop OS in the world: Windows (Microsoft). All of this has lead to significant harm to the competition, no matter where they come from. Worse, they invade adjacent markets and suck the life out of those. So, yes, monopol
Land of the free (Score:2)
Ironic that in the "Land of the Free", the citizenry are provided much fewer protections from predatory corporations than in the EU. In this era, "freedom" means corporations are free to pillage the citizenry. Meanwhile the President is free to enrich himself by billions in a single year, by ripping off "investors" in blatant crypto scam payola, while the rest of the country go backwards in affordability. Vote in a rapist, convicted felon, conman, don't be surprised when acts true to form. Remember th
Re: Land of the free (Score:2)
It was always "the land of the free", but only for some.
Re: Land of the free (Score:2)
It was only the land of the free before white people showed up, but it's been good propaganda.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't be so self self righteous. "Humans" were bought and sold in every country, on almost every continent in the past. Every race, every color had slaves. Slavery was the dominant economic model before feudalism. Slaves were one of the "spoils of war".
Re: (Score:2)
I hate lame ass chicken shit comments from "cowards". They're like the dirt bag kids who sit in the back and throw spit balls thinking they're cool... they never were cool, and and grew up to be rejects. karma's a bitch dirt bag.
Consoles? (Score:3)
Doesn't this mean that Nintendo and Sony must allow the installation of third party stores and games on their consoles?
Re: (Score:2)
It would be a good thing yes.
But it's still different. Historically, you could always buy a game from brick and mortar store not owned by Nintendo or Sony. That was never possible with the iPhone.
Not sure how it is with digital stores now, but I wouldn't be surprised if they followed Apple's "lead" in that vendor lock-in department as well.
Still, console makers would argue that they sell consoles at loss and they make profit with the games. Apple makes a huge profit on phones. It appears the EU DMA applies
Denies water is wet (Score:2)
The company also disputed the classification of Water being wet. Later the company disputed the claim of what goes up, must come down. Tomorrow they are expected to file a brief claiming the classification of having trillions upon trillions of dollars, operating the #1 closed source product, and having captive lock in capability is just a way to "provide jobs".
Re: Denies water is wet (Score:2)
Water isn't wet. Water makes things wet.
Prove that it can't be used for nefarious purposes (Score:2)
All you need to do is prove that an "alternative" app store can't be used to distribute malware or worse, some EU commie spyware.
Re: (Score:2)
The Apple ios app stores have been used to distribute malware and will be continued to be used for such.
They must either stop accepting third party apps in their app store (which will mean that they don't have a product anymore), or accept the fact that people are going to figure out ways to get malware in.
In the EU the government is actually doing it's job by trying to make things difficult for monopolies - and they should; any government should. Wherever the monopoly comes from, it's life should be made r
Re: (Score:2)
No, if that's your concern then it is up to you, as the consumer, to verify that before you choose to use their store.
Re: (Score:3)
You're so brainwashed you think a monopoly is a great thing, and no one should be allowed to compete with it.
Go move to Russia.
Fuck you forever and ever.
Cancerous growth is not sustainable (Score:2)
You seem to be arguing with a cloud of no ones about nothing substantive, though you do raise the freedom issue in the mist.
However I see most problems in terms of time these years. The humans making the decisions are mostly motivated by short term considerations. They are trying to claim as much money as possible before they die. Freedom and innovation are mostly irrelevant to their business decisions. In particular, the current winners see freedom and innovations as threats. They don't want customers who
Re: Cancerous growth is not sustainable (Score:2)
What is or isn't a monopoly is literally irrelevant here, that is not at issue. They don't have to be a monopoly to be a gatekeeper. They only need control over an influential platform.
Re: Imagine... (Score:2)
Imagine a company selling devices to billions of people and then using local laws to stop them from using those devices how they want.
Apple is a scummy company with no regard for capitalist rules of competition. They are just butthurt their homegrown strategies of buying politicians isn't working overseas.
Correct analogy (Score:5, Insightful)
Imagine:
You own a shop which is the ONLY place where people can buy parts for their car. When a competitor wants to sell parts as well, they need to go through YOUR shop. Because it's your shop, you ask companies who want to offer products via your shop to pay 30% of their revenue to you. They are also required to use all your other services. When you notice someone has a good product, you start offering the EXACT same thing, but cheaper.
In what universe is this called fair? It's a good thing the EU actually does something about such behavior.
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine:ford saying all parking, tolls, gas, etc. Must be paid under ford pay that changes an 15-30% service fee.
Re: Imagine... (Score:2)
Obviously Republican, so yeah, it's a core tenant -- companies and profits and billionaires before, well, everyone and everything else. What surprises me is that what the EU are doing is a good thing for consumers and developers. This benefits OP (if they were in the EU, but I digress), and yet OP is against it. It's a mindset I really struggle to understand.
Re: (Score:2)
Can I buy my BMW seat heat from another party?
Re: (Score:3)
> ...you create supermarket from never having been in the supermarket business.
Sure.
> It becomes successful, without leeching off your competitors.
It becomes successful, and you sell your house brands at a price lower than your competitors can sell their brands, because you don't have to pay yourself the retail markup. Okay, supermarket analogy still applies so far, except that your customers also live in a town (operating system) that has only your supermarket, and you use technological means to prevent those customers from going to another supermarket unless they buy a new house (phone).
> All of a sudden they start whining, and The Man decides you should not only allow them to sell inside your store, you are supposed to do it for free, even use your resources to help them sell, and not devote 100% of your time to your own business.
False. None of the competitors are demanding that. The