It is possible that some gatekeepers may attempt to go around the restrictions or play for time. Apple
Margrethe Vestager, EU Commission EVP and competition chief, criticised Apple’s choice to chose fine-paying over complying with new Dutch app store legislation in a speech this week.
This week Vestager spoke at Berkeley on the Digital Marketplaces Operate, which she said “we are acknowledging the fact that few significant platforms increasingly act as gatekeepers to broad parts of the internet, including online markets.” It’s important to have “strong enforcement” and enough resources to assure compliance, she added. According to Apple’s reaction to the Netherlands’ new app store legislation, “When it comes to third-party app store access, Apple seems to prefer to pay penalties rather than comply with a ruling by the Dutch Competition Authority. And that’s one of the requirements of the DMA as well.”
It’s been a rough week for Apple, which has been hit with a third $5 million+ fine from the Dutch competition authorities because of the company’s intentions to comply with new legislation in the nation that would dramatically modify the App Store on devices such as the iPhone 13.
As part of Apple’s strategy, the company wants dating app developers to create completely separate apps if they want to offer alternative payment methods, and the company has also announced that it will charge a commission of 27% on such transactions, which is only 3% lower than its current 30% rate of commission. Some developers were outraged by this discovery, believing that alternate App Store payment methods would let them to bypass Apple’s commission charges entirely.