French court to hear App Store complaint in September

A French court has set a date to hear a case brought against Apple by the country's finance ministry over allegedly abusive contract terms on the App Store.

The case will be heard by a Paris commercial court on Sept. 17, 2021, Reuters reported Wednesday. Although it's unlikely to result in significant fines, the court could force Apple to change some of its contractual terms in the country.

In France, local law allows the country's finance minister to sue companies if abusive business practices are found in contracts. The complaint was levied against Apple following a three-year probe by France's CGCCRF consumer fraud watchdog.

France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, last year accused Apple of being part of a small group of tech giants that are"reaping most of the profits" in the country.

The case in France echoes a similar complaint levied against Apple by Epic Games over App Store policies like a 30% commission on app and in-app purchases and a prohibition on third-party app stores.

This isn't the only scrutiny that Apple is facing in France. The Cupertino tech giant has also been hit with an antitrust complaint over personalized advertising on iOS.

Apple is in the midst of a series of antitrust battles across the globe. In the U.S., for example, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is currently reviewing several bills that could force tech giants like Apple to change their business practices.

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5 Comments

j2fusion 153 comments · 13 Years

About 3 years ago

Simple question. Has anyone heard of any consumer complaints about the App Store?

All I’ve heard is developer complaints and government investigations. Isn’t the consumer the one the government is supposed to protect and I have yet to read of a consumer complaint.

Evan-el 8 comments · 3 Years

j2fusion said:

Simple question. Has anyone heard of any consumer complaints about the App Store?
All I’ve heard is developer complaints and government investigations. Isn’t the consumer the one the government is supposed to protect and I have yet to read of a consumer complaint.

I just created an account on AppleInsider to say I 100% agree.

The way developers are complaining and the reasons they are giving are exactly why I want to stay with Apple. I trust Apple more than developers and the “difficulty” of getting onto the App Store is a protection measure.

I’m the only techy in my family, and my siblings and my parents and many of my friends would both be harmed by allowing side loading, I 100% guarantee it. They were the ones in the old PC world clicking on the popups in Firefox that said, “Flash Player is out of date. Install now to protect your computer.” I’m glad those days are over… and I hope they stay that way.

I’m happy to let people who want an open, unwalled system to exercise their free choice and go buy Android :smile:

mcdave 1927 comments · 19 Years

Antitrust should only apply to markets with interoperable products. For the most part, Apple doesn’t provide these.

KTR 280 comments · 4 Years

Evan-el said:

j2fusion said:

Simple question. Has anyone heard of any consumer complaints about the App Store?
All I’ve heard is developer complaints and government investigations. Isn’t the consumer the one the government is supposed to protect and I have yet to read of a consumer complaint.

I just created an account on AppleInsider to say I 100% agree.

The way developers are complaining and the reasons they are giving are exactly why I want to stay with Apple. I trust Apple more than developers and the “difficulty” of getting onto the App Store is a protection measure.

I’m the only techy in my family, and my siblings and my parents and many of my friends would both be harmed by allowing side loading, I 100% guarantee it. They were the ones in the old PC world clicking on the popups in Firefox that said, “Flash Player is out of date. Install now to protect your computer.” I’m glad those days are over… and I hope they stay that way.

I’m happy to let people who want an open, unwalled system to exercise their free choice and go buy Android :smile:

People seem to forget that the android system was developed by a former apple engineer. Andy Rubin.

nicholfd 828 comments · 6 Years

KTR said:

Evan-el said:

j2fusion said:

Simple question. Has anyone heard of any consumer complaints about the App Store?
All I’ve heard is developer complaints and government investigations. Isn’t the consumer the one the government is supposed to protect and I have yet to read of a consumer complaint.

I just created an account on AppleInsider to say I 100% agree.

The way developers are complaining and the reasons they are giving are exactly why I want to stay with Apple. I trust Apple more than developers and the “difficulty” of getting onto the App Store is a protection measure.

I’m the only techy in my family, and my siblings and my parents and many of my friends would both be harmed by allowing side loading, I 100% guarantee it. They were the ones in the old PC world clicking on the popups in Firefox that said, “Flash Player is out of date. Install now to protect your computer.” I’m glad those days are over… and I hope they stay that way.

I’m happy to let people who want an open, unwalled system to exercise their free choice and go buy Android :smile:

People seem to forget that the android system was developed by a former apple engineer. Andy Rubin.

And how is this related to this topic?