EU antitrust regulators charge Apple over App Store restrictions

EU antitrust regulators on Friday charged iPhone maker Apple with setting restrictive rules on its App Store that force developers to use its own in-app payment system and prevent them from informing users of other purchasing options.

EU antitrust regulators on Friday charged iPhone maker Apple with setting restrictive rules on its App Store that force developers to use its own in-app payment system and prevent them from informing users of other purchasing options. The move by the European Commission followed a complaint by Swedish music streaming service Spotify two years ago.

"Apple's rules distort competition in the market for music streaming services by raising the costs of competing music streaming app developers. This in turn leads to higher prices for consumers for their in-app music subscriptions on iOS devices," the European Commission said in a statement. This is the first EU antitrust charge against Apple, a move which could lead to a hefty fine of as much as 10% of its global turnover. Reuters was the first to report about the imminent EU antitrust charge in March.