Apple Fined Another €5 Million Over Dating Apps as Dutch Regulators Say Apple Has 'Refused to Put Forward Any Serious Proposals'

[MacRumors]

Dutch regulators have levied another fine of €5 million against Apple in a continued dispute over alternative payment systems for dating apps. Apple's total fines have now reached €25 million as regulators assess weekly fines up to a total of €50 million or until Apple satisfies the regulatory requirements.

In a statement shared with TechCrunch, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says Apple has "refused to put forward any serious proposals" and that "Apple's so-called 'solutions' continue to create too many barriers for dating-app providers."

“In the past week, we did not receive any new proposals from Apple with which they would comply with ACM’s requirements. That is why Apple will have to pay a fifth penalty payment. That means that the total amount of all penalty payments currently stands at 25 million euros.

“We have clearly explained to Apple how they can comply with ACM’s requirements. So far, however, they have refused to put forward any serious proposals. We find Apple’s attitude regrettable, especially so since ACM’s requirements were upheld in court on December 24. Apple’s so-called ‘solutions’ continue to create too many barriers for dating-app providers that wish to use their own payment systems.

“We have established that Apple is a company with a dominant position. That comes with extra responsibilities vis-à-vis its buyers and, more broadly, society at large. Apple must set reasonable conditions for the use of its services. In that context, it cannot abuse its dominant position. Apple’s conditions will thus have to take into account the interests of buyers.”

Apple said in mid-January that it would comply with the ACM's ruling on allowing alternative payment systems, but the company's terms included only reducing its commission on such purchases from the standard 30% to 27%, requiring developers to maintain separate app binaries, and requiring developers to submit monthly records of sales through alternative means to Apple in order to track commissions.

Apple and the ACM clearly have different ideas of what policies will satisfy the requirements of the original ruling, and the two sides appear to remain far apart as the fines against Apple continue to accumulate.

Article Link: Apple Fined Another €5 Million Over Dating Apps as Dutch Regulators Say Apple Has 'Refused to Put Forward Any Serious Proposals'

 

[JilzVT]

Ash tray money brah

 

[bollman]

Wait another 5 weeks, pay the max penalty. Then what? Off the hook?

 

[hagar]

Just pull all dating apps from the Dutch store and call it a day. Then there’s no more market to complain and fight over.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Does Apple even remember this anymore?

 

[KaliYoni]

€50 million is about US$57 million as of the writing of this post. Not a big deal for a company with annual operating cash flow of $104 billion and $35 billion of cash holdings. Apple probably will let the fine max out and take its time seeking a legislative solution. Plus with US interest rates set to rise over the short to middle term, Apple could even earn an increasing sum on a $57 million cash set aside while it waits for the Dutch government to do something. Further, eventually paying a Euro-denominated fine could give Apple some US tax savings because it can avoid repatriating $57 million from the Euro-zone. Crazy.

 

[icanhazmac]

Just pull all dating apps from the Dutch store and call it a day. Then there’s no more market to complain and fight over.

Agreed, take a stand here before this crap gets out of hand.

Apple's response should be: "unfortunately due to the complexities of international law we can no longer provide dating app services via our app store" and provide links for the citizens of country X to complain to their government representatives.

My condolences to any and all Dutch singles.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Does Apple even remember this anymore?

Probably at the bottom of their list. This must be like a flea in their ear.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Agreed, take a stand here before this crap gets out of hand.

What a Dutch bags! ?

Edit: Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend anyone. Just Being funny.
I have very good friends from the Netherlands.

 

[macduke]

If I were Apple I would just update my terms to disallow dating apps in the Netherlands.

 

[NMBob]

Does Apple even remember this anymore?

Yeah, it's like maybe this is on some yellow sticky that fell off of the chin of someone's iMac.

 

[Realityck]

Apparently Apple is not budging just because Dutch regulators demand something. Just give them the rest of the $50 million so this is no longer news.

 

[jz0309]

50M Euros? a rounding error in Apple's books ...

 

[Armada2]

I reckon after the Dutch receive max penalty - the rest of Europe will follow with their made-up fines so that the money goes into politicians' pockets..

 

[Danfango]

If I were Apple I would just update my terms to disallow dating apps in the Netherlands.

That would put Apple well in the realm of public service.

Dating apps are universally abusive to their customers and having Apple in control of the subscriptions disallows them to carry on their terrible behaviour.

The regulator is doing a massive disservice to customers here. The dating companies should leave the platform. They exist on the web too.

 

[SpotOnT]

My condolences to any and all Dutch singles.

Hint: Dating-app is a code word for prostitution-app. which is legal in the Netherlands.

This is about Apple getting a cut of Netherlands prostitution industry.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Hint: Dating-app is a code word for prostitution-app. which is legal in the Netherlands.

This is about Apple getting a cut of Netherlands prostitution industry.

Thanks for explaining that. I’ve been wondering why Dutch regulators are only concerned with dating apps.

 

[bsolar]

Thanks for explaining that. I’ve been wondering why Dutch regulators are only concerned with dating apps.

Their original investigation had a broader scope at the beginning, but they reduced the scope likely to avoid their national investigation overlapping an ongoing European Commission antitrust investigation about Apple's apps and services in general.

In case of simultaneous similar antitrust investigation at national and EU level, the EU investigation takes precedence and the national antitrust investigation must be stopped. By limiting the scope to dating apps the national authority likely avoided the overlap and this allowed them to keep their national investigation going.

Yes, this means Apple will possibly have to face antitrust regulations at the EU level at a broader scope in the future unless the European Commission investigation doesn't lead to anything.

 

[BaldiMac]

Hint: Dating-app is a code word for prostitution-app. which is legal in the Netherlands.

This is about Apple getting a cut of Netherlands prostitution industry.

I'm not sure that makes much sense. Apple doesn't require IAP for offline services.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Just pull all dating apps from the Dutch store and call it a day. Then there’s no more market to complain and fight over.

Yes, please!

Provide only more ammunition to regulators' and legislators' that they're abusing their gatekeeping power and monopoly power for iPhone app distribution by banning multimillion dollar/user apps from their store as they please.

(Bracing myself for the incoming "They created the platform and should be able to do as they please" posts).

€50 million is about US$57 million as of the writing of this post. Not a big deal for a company with annual operating cash flow of $104 billion and $35 billion of cash holdings.

The Netherlands have a population of only 17 million.
And online dating apps is only one among many categories of apps.

 

[boss.king]

Wait another 5 weeks, pay the max penalty. Then what? Off the hook?

Nope, then it likely escalates to the higher tier of fines.

 

[0924487]

Wait another 5 weeks, pay the max penalty. Then what? Off the hook?

Then the warning shots are over.

 

[Wildkraut]

Wait another 5 weeks, pay the max penalty. Then what? Off the hook?

Probably round 2, $10 mil per week till $100 mil.

 

[4jasontv]

€50 million is about US$57 million as of the writing of this post. Not a big deal for a company with annual operating cash flow of $104 billion and $35 billion of cash holdings. Apple probably will let the fine max out and take its time seeking a legislative solution. Plus with US interest rates set to rise over the short to middle term, Apple could even earn an increasing sum on a $57 million cash set aside while it waits for the Dutch government to do something. Further, eventually paying a Euro-denominated fine could give Apple some US tax savings because it can avoid repatriating $57 million from the Euro-zone. Crazy.

Double check my math, cause I did it in my head… but isn’t this basically: if you had $35k in the bank and the government threatened you with a 1/5th of a penny fine?

 

[AppliedMicro]

Hint: Dating-app is a code word for prostitution-app. which is legal in the Netherlands.

This is about Apple getting a cut of Netherlands prostitution industry.

Hint: The Dutch really don't need dating apps to organise paid hook-ups. Prostitution is legal and happening very openly in the Netherlands. They literally have prostitutes advertising their services in street-facing display windows in or close to city centres. And they aren't banning online classifieds (think: backpage.com) either.

This isn't the outwardly prudish U.S. that needs to disguise such things through dating apps.