According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is appealing a 1.8 billion euro (1.9 billion US dollar) fine imposed by the European Commission on its App Store rules relating to music streaming providers, including Spotify.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that, according to people familiar with the matter, Apple (AAPL.US) is appealing the EU Commission's 1.8 billion euro (1.9 billion US dollars) fine imposed by the European Commission on its App Store rules relating to music streaming providers including Spotify (SPOT.US).
People familiar with the matter said that the US tech giant filed a lawsuit in the EU General Court to reverse the fine decision made by EU regulators in March.
According to the report, the European Commission said it is ready to defend all of its decisions in court.
According to information, the European Commission said in March that Apple's App Store rules against music streaming providers (especially Spotify) are considered “misuse.” European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said, “For ten years, Apple has restricted music streaming app developers from informing consumers about cheaper options other than apps.”
In response, Apple issued a statement criticizing the decision. Apple later announced measures to make it easier for music streaming apps on the European Economic Area's App Store to inform people about other ways to buy digital services.
The report notes that the investigation began about five years ago after Spotify filed a complaint. The company claims that it was forced to raise monthly subscription prices to cover the costs associated with Apple's alleged control over how the App Store operates.
Earlier this month, Digital Music Europe (Digital Music Europe), representing companies such as Spotify and Deezer, submitted a letter to EU regulators saying that Apple's proposal to comply with the agency's March order did not provide specific effective remedies.
Apple's appeal marks another legal battle with EU regulators. Previously, EU regulators imposed 13 billion euros in tax fines on Apple due to Irish state aid issues. Since Apple won the case in the early round, the final outcome is still uncertain.