Italian Watchdog Confirms Third Antitrust Inquiry into Apple

[MacRumors]

Italy's antitrust regulator has today opened another inquiry into Apple for allegedly improper commercial practices with regards to cloud computing services (via Reuters).

The investigation will also look into the practices of Google and Dropbox, in addition to Apple. The L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) did not release further information or state how long the investigation would take, and Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

"The proceedings relate to alleged improper commercial practices and the possible inclusion of unfair clauses in contract conditions," the AGCM said in a statement.

The investigation is the third by the AGCM into Apple. In July, the AGCM began scrutinizing Apple and Amazon over allegations that the two companies blocked the sale of Apple and Beats devices to resellers in order to stifle competition. Each investigation is separate and managed irrespective of other ongoing investigations.

A previous AGCM probe looked into the company for iPhone battery slowdowns, which the antitrust watchdog said was a form of planned obsolescence. It subsequently demanded a 10 million euro fine from Apple as a sanction.

Article Link: Italian Watchdog Confirms Third Antitrust Inquiry into Apple

 

[macfacts]

Unpossible, typical apple. This is my supprised face

 

[MacAddictPM]

Shakedown, EU style

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol

And they really need the money. All the country’s riches were scavenged by the local church empire rendering many of their ancient cities into total ruins.

 

[bsolar]

The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:

• The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
• The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.

 

[jayducharme]

It reminds me of sharks. Once there's blood in the water, the entire shiver crowds in for their share.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Apple has got one huge bullseye.

 

[itsmilo]

The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:

• The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
• The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.

this seems reasonable

 

[gfbio]

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol

Well, your comment is deeply unjustified as a lot of things changed in the last years.
You'd better focus on Mr. President

 

[Cosmosent]

Is that a Waterfall behind Glass ?

Looks pretty cool !

 

[MacLawyer]

Dropbox?How could they possibly be big enough to warrant investigation?

 

[bsolar]

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

Technically the AGCM operates independently form the government.

 

[steve09090]

The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:
The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.

And how will this go? They can investigate all they want. Do Apple collect data for commercial purposes? What purpose would Apple have to do this? If they were talking about Google or Amazon, I would understand.

 

[bsolar]

Dropbox?How could they possibly be big enough to warrant investigation?

The AGCM doesn't only handle antitrust violations, they are also responsible of enforcing consumer protection in general, including unfair commercial practices which can be illegal no matter how big or small a company is.

 

[Picard J.L.]

The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:

• The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
• The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.

Honestly I also don't understand why if i'm paying for their service they still say they are not liable if data loss occurs. They absolutely are, I give my data to them for storage and pay them for doing that.

 

[bsolar]

And how will this go? They can investigate all they want. Do Apple collect data for commercial purposes? What purpose would Apple have to do this? If they were talking about Google or Amazon, I would understand.

Actually no, they cannot investigate all they want. The investigation is being started and in this phase they need to define the scope of the investigation and this includes setting a deadline.

Whether Apple is doing everything according to Italian regulations or not is exactly what will be determined in the investigation: at this point there are no other details so it's difficult to do an evaluation.

 

[XXPP]

Failed states with no high-tech industries are looking for money. When will Italy go bankrupt? This year or next?

 

[Abazigal]

If anyone else has any beef with Apple, may as well hop on the bandwagon and air your grievances here and now. This is the last stand when it comes to going toe to toe with Apple. If they don’t act now, then it’s pretty much over and the App Store will be the law of the land.

 

[4jasontv]

The official announcement from AGCM is here (in Italian). There are a few details:

• The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
• The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.

Not Italian, so this seems weird to me.

1. What does of 'proper' notification mean? Either you are notified or you are not. Being burred on page 42 of 53 of the TOS is still notification.

2. Does Italy not have Smart TVs? Because that's how they all seem to work. Data collection without being able to deny consent with changes that hurt customers frequently being made.

3. Isn't unilateral contracts how all service clauses work? Every single product I own basically says they are not responsible for anything. I get messages daily from companies letting me know they change my contract clauses. Just this moment I got an email saying my Samsung Cloud storage is being shut down, even thought I paid for it. Would that be legal Italy?

 

[bsolar]

Failed states with no high-tech industries are looking for money. When will Italy go bankrupt? This year or next?

Italy's GDP has trended more or less in-line with the EU, about -12% this quarter. USA's GDP is at -31% in the same period...

 

[DinkThifferent]

Well, your comment is deeply unjustified as a lot of things changed in the last years.

Yeah, like the 'give us free money' demand earlier this year.

Anyway, it seems like suddenly every watchdog has woken up and starts biting Apple in the butt for some reason. It's not like Apple hasn't done what they have done over the last couple of years this year.

 

[G5isAlive]

Apple has got one huge bullseye.

yep, one huge bank account... attracts a lot of bad attention.

 

[Chinch07]

Italy's antitrust regulator has today opened another inquiry into Apple for allegedly improper commercial practices with regards to cloud computing services (via Reuters).

The investigation will also look into the practices of Google and Dropbox, in addition to Apple. The L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) did not release further information or state how long the investigation would take, and Apple has yet to comment on the matter.



The investigation is the third by the AGCM into Apple. In July, the AGCM began scrutinizing Apple and Amazon over allegations that the two companies blocked the sale of Apple and Beats devices to resellers in order to stifle competition. Each investigation is separate and managed irrespective of other ongoing investigations.

A previous AGCM probe looked into the company for iPhone battery slowdowns, which the antitrust watchdog said was a form of planned obsolescence. It subsequently demanded a 10 million euro fine from Apple as a sanction.

Article Link: Italian Watchdog Confirms Third Antitrust Inquiry into Apple

Everyone wants a slice of Apple pie

 

[gfbio]

Yeah, like the 'give us free money' demand earlier this year.

Anyway, it seems like suddenly every watchdog has woken up and starts biting Apple in the butt for some reason. It's not like Apple hasn't done what they have done over the last couple of years this year.

Well, at the moment it's just an investigation, they didn't demand any money at the moment.
The authority is investigating also Google and Dropbox as well.