Apple faces EU fine over rules
Apple Inc. is set to be hit by a ban on its App Store rules that govern music-streaming rivals and a potential hefty fine in the European Union’s latest attempt to limit the power of Big Tech.
EU regulators are putting the finishing touches to a decision that would prohibit Apple’s practice of blocking music services from pushing their users away from the App Store to alternative subscription options, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The decision is slated for early next year, they added.
As part of the upcoming decision, Apple runs the risk of a potential fine of as much as 10% of its annual sales – although EU penalties seldom reach that level and orders for companies to change their business models can be more hard-hitting.
The probe was sparked by a complaint nearly four years ago from Sweden’s Spotify Technology SA, which claimed it was forced to ramp up the price of its monthly subscriptions to cover costs associated with Apple’s alleged stranglehold on how the App Store operates.
The European Commission homed in on Apple’s anti-steering rules in a formal charge sheet in February, saying the conditions are unnecessary and mean customers may end up paying more.
The EU crackdown on App Store rules has run alongside another probe focused on how Cupertino, California-based Apple controls tap-to-pay technology on its devices.
But the company is in talks to settle that case, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Across the Atlantic there has been a similar focus on app store abuses.
This week, jurors found that Google unfairly wields monopoly power, in a win for Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc., which has also complained about Apple’s App Store policies.
Margrethe Vestager – who returned to her role as EU antitrust czar after a failed bid for the top job at the European Investment Bank – has a history of taking on Apple and other Silicon Valley giants.
She’s slapped Alphabet Inc.’s Google with fines of more than $8.6 billion and also ordered Apple to repay about $14 billion in unfair tax breaks from Ireland.
Outbreak could spike egg prices
Egg prices are likely to start rising again after the top U.S. producer had its first-ever outbreak of deadly avian influenza.
Cal-Maine Foods Inc. in a statement Tuesday said one of its facilities in Kansas tested positive for highly pathogenic bird flu, affecting 684,000 egg-laying hens, or about 1.6% of its flock.
Based in Mississippi, the biggest U.S. producer had previously avoided infections in the worst-ever global outbreak that prompted more than 72 million birds to be killed in the U.S. to slow the spread of the virus.
The latest outbreak adds to worries that a resurgence could start boosting prices for eggs, which have fallen 69% since hitting a record of $5.35 a dozen in the Midwest about a year ago.
From wire reports