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BUSINESS Tuesday 25 June 2024
A13

Apple becomes first target of EU’s new digital HEALTH

competition rules aimed at big tech DOCTOR ON DUTY

Oranjestad
By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
LONDON (AP) — European Tel. 527 4000
Union regulators on Monday San Nicolas
leveled their first charges un- Imsan 24 hours
der the bloc’s new digital Tel.524 8833
competition rulebook, ac- Women in Difficulties
cusing Apple of preventing PHARMACY ON DUTY
app makers from pointing Oranjestad:
users to cheaper options Kibrahacha : Tel.583 4908
outside its App Store. San Nicolas:
The European Commission San Nicolas:Tel. 584 5712
said that according to the
preliminary findings of its inves- OTHER
tigation, the restrictions that Dental Clinic 587 9850
the iPhone maker imposes on Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
developers using its mobile Urgent Care 586 0448
App Store had breached Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
+297 588 0539
the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Women in Difficulties
Markets Act. The rulebook, EMERGENCY
also known as the DMA, is a Police 100
sweeping set of regulations Oranjestad 527 3140
aimed at preventing tech Noord 527 3200
“gatekeepers” from cornering The logo of Apple is illuminated at a store in the city center in Munich, Germany, on Dec. 16, Sta. Cruz 527 2900
2020.
digital markets under threat Associated Press San Nicolas 584 5000
of heavy financial penalties. Police Tipline 11141
Ambulancia
911
The commission opened an a final decision on Apple’s sions open the way for al- Apple Inc. said over the Fire Dept. 115
initial round of investigations compliance by March 2025. ternative app stores to give past several months, it “has Red Cross 582 2219
after it took effect in March, The company could face consumers more choice. made a number of changes
including a separate ongoing fines worth up to 10% of its The commission said the the to comply with the DMA in TAXI SERVICES
probe into whether Apple is global revenue, which could new terms are a “condition response to feedback from Taxi Tas 587 5900
doing enough to allow iPhone amount to billions of euros, to access some of the new developers and the European Prof. Taxi 588 0035
users to easily change web or daily penalties. features enabled by the Commission.” q Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
browsers, and other cases The commission kept up the DMA.” Rivals had criticized A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
involving Google and Meta. pressure on Apple, simulta- the fee, saying it would de- Women in Difficulties
Apple has been facing pres- neously opening a new in- ter many existing free apps, TRAVEL INFO
sure on both sides of the At- vestigation into contractual which don’t pay any fees,
lantic to tear down some terms that it’s offering app from jumping ship. Aruba Airport 524 2424
of the competitive barriers developers. “We are concerned Apple’s American Airlines 582 2700
around its lucrative iPhone Regulators zeroed in on a new business model makes it Avianca 588 0059
Jet Blue
588 2244
franchise. The U.S. Justice De- “core technology fee” of 50 too hard for app developers Surinam 582 7896
partment has filed a sweep- euro cents (54 cents) that to operate as alternative mar-
ing antitrust lawsuit against Apple is now charging de- ketplaces & reach their end Women in Difficulties
Apple this year, accusing it velopers for each time their users on iOS,” the European AID FOUNDATIONS
of illegally monopolizing the apps are downloaded and Commissioner for Competi- FAVI- Visually Impaired
smartphone market and box- installed from outside Apple’s tion, Margrethe Vestager, said Tel. 582 5051
ing out competitors, stifling App Store. The DMA’s provi- on social media. Alcoholics Anonymous
innovation and keeping Tel. 736 2952
prices artificially high. App Narcotics Anonymous
makers such as Spotify had Tel. 583 8989
complained for years about Fundacion Contra Violencia
Apple’s requirement that Relacional Tel. 583 5400
subscriptions only be bought Centre for Diabetes
Tel. 524 8888
through iOS apps, allowing Child Abuse Prevention
the company to take a com- Tel. 582 4433
mission of up to 30%. Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Under the DMA’s provisions, Women in Difficulties
app developers must be General Info
allowed to inform custom- Phone Directory Tel. 118
ers of cheaper purchasing
options and direct them to
those offers.
The commission, the bloc’s
executive arm, said App Store
rules “prevent app develop-
ers from freely steering con-
sumers to alternative chan-
nels for offers and content.”
Apple now has a chance
to respond to the findings.
The commission must make facebook.com/arubatoday/