Google hit with $270M fine in France as authority finds news publishers’ data was used for GeminiIn a never-ending saga between Google and France’s competition authority over copyright protections for news snippets, the Autorité de la Concurrence announced a €250 million fine against the tech giant Wednesday (around $270 million at today’s exchange rate).
The competition authority has found fault with Google for failing to notify news publishers of this GenAI use of their copyrighted content.
But the competition authority quickly stepped in – finding its unilateral action an abuse of a dominant market position that risked harm to publishers.
But in 2021, Google was hit with a $592M fine after the competition authority found major breaches in its negotiations with local publishers and agencies.
Google has signed copyright agreements with hundreds of publishers in France – which fall under the remit of its agreement with the Autorité.
Streaming music service Deezer is joining Spotify in cheering the European Union’s €1.84 billion fine imposed on Apple for breaking antitrust rules in the streaming music market.
Apple’s new DMA rules, introduced in January, are a complicated means of providing a path forward for app developers to distribute apps from alternative app marketplaces.
Deezer is among those developers who drafted an open letter to the EC last week, claiming Apple was making a “mockery” of the DMA.
So far, we’ve only heard from MacPaw, the maker of a subscription service for apps, Setapp, which announced it was switching to Apple’s DMA terms last week.
However, larger developers, like Apple critics Spotify and Epic Games, as well as tech companies like Meta, Mozilla, and Microsoft have criticized Apple’s new rules.
Everyone profits together.”In other words, Apple’s App Store was originally seen as a platform that could help the tech giant sell more iPhones, as having easy access to popular apps, like Facebook — an early App Store partner — would be a plus for consumers.
Though it made some concessions for small business developers and others, it sees no model for the App Store that doesn’t involve a commission structure.
Apple's bitter griping simply describes their historic, pre-monopoly relationship with app makers: the device provides great APIs, and apps provide great features to attract users.
In America, the issue is coming before the District Court in Epic v Apple as Epic challenges Apple’s malicious compliance with the court’s anti-steering injunction.
Sweeney also retweeted Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s video message about the fine and his concerns that Apple will find a way to avoid full compliance.
Apple’s €1.84B fine, new AI rules in India, and the latest pre-IPO roundListen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple says it plans to appeal the historic €1.84 billion fine issued today by the European Commission over Apple’s anticompetitive practices in the streaming music market.
Apple again stressed that Spotify pays Apple nothing in terms of App Store commissions because it sells its subscriptions only on Apple’s website.
“They want to use Apple’s tools and technologies, distribute on the App Store, and benefit from the trust we’ve built with users — and to pay Apple nothing for it,” Apple says.
“In short, Spotify wants more.”Apple says that while it respects the European Commission, the facts don’t support the decision, and ” as a result, Apple will appeal.”“Every day, teams at Apple work to keep that dream alive,” Apple wrote.
“We do it by making the App Store the safest and best experience for our users.
Despite the EC ruling favoring Spotify and other streamers over Apple, the company was still cautious about how Apple would proceed.
So we’re looking forward to the next steps that will hopefully clearly and conclusively address Apple’s long-standing unfair practices,” Spotify wrote.
In 2019, Spotify first filed its antitrust complaint against the tech giant, which later led to the EU’s formal investigation of Apple’s App Store announced in 2020.
In April of the following year, the EU issued a statement of objections, accusing Apple of distorting competition in the market for streaming services.
And it noted that Spotify had a 56% share of the music streaming market in Europe, compared with Apple Music’s 11% share.
This week, the Financial Times reported the EC will issue its first-ever fine against the tech giant for allegedly breaking EU law over competition in the streaming music market.
It reads:We’re happy to support the success of all developers — including Spotify, which is the largest music streaming app in the world.
In the case of the EU complaint, the concern is that Apple’s App Store distorts completion in the music streaming market.
“There are other rivals to Apple Music — there are Deezer, there are Soundcloud.
A rep for the EC declined to comment on news related to Spotify’s complaint or any pending fines.
Apple last week announced new rules for EU app developers to comply with new regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Developer responses to the changes have been mixed, as several larger companies, including Epic Games, Spotify and more recently Microsoft, have come out against Apple’s changes, which seemed designed to ensure that Apple’s ability to profit from iPhone apps continues, regardless of how they’re discovered and installed.
This fee applies to apps both distributed on the App Store and through alternative marketplaces and is €0.50 for each first annual install per year over a 1 million threshold.
After digging through the documents Apple provided and speaking to the company, there are a few caveats and details to these rules that developers should know.
We’re compiling them below as a starting point and will add to this list over time as we learn more.
Apple last week announced new rules for EU app developers to comply with new regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Meanwhile, the company is implementing a Core Technology Fee that Apple says pays for their access to Apple’s proprietary technologies and tools, developer services and support, and platform integrity.
This fee applies to apps both distributed on the App Store and through alternative marketplaces and is €0.50 for each first annual install per year over a 1 million threshold.
After digging through the documents Apple provided and speaking to the company, there are a few caveats and details to these rules that developers should know.
We’re compiling them below as a starting point and will add to this list over time as we learn more.
eBay has agreed to pay a $3 million fine in connection with a corporate cyberstalking campaign targeting a Massachusetts couple in 2019.
The cyberstalking campaign was conducted by several eBay employees, some of whom were executives, who targeted the couple after they posted a newsletter that was critical of the e-commerce giant.
The cyberstalking campaign involved the employees sending the couple a bloody pig mask, a fetal pig, a funeral wreath, live insects and a book on surviving the death of a spouse.
“eBay engaged in absolutely horrific, criminal conduct,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy in a press release.
“The company’s conduct in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible,” said eBay CEO Jamie Iannone in the press release.
