The French organization, which brings together many publishers of French online content, protests against the conditions imposed by the manufacturer on the App Store.
Apple is once again singled out for its business practices and accused of creating a monopoly around its application store.
The GESTE believes that Apple maintains a monopoly with its App Store and its drastic conditions
Le GESTE, an organization that brings together a very large number of French publishers of online content and services, has just filed a complaint in the United States against the Californian manufacturer.
The organization believes that Apple is in a monopoly situation with the commercial conditions practiced on the App Store and wishes to obtain compensation from the American company.
In question, the 30% commission deducted from each purchase or subscription taken out on the application platform. This tithe is too much for the GESTE, not to mention the 99 dollars requested each year from publishers to obtain access to Apple’s development tools.
The GESTE also criticizes Apple for the fee schedule imposed for the price of applications and demands that the brand relax its conditions so that publishers can apply the prices that allow them to make their business profitable.
Finally, the lawyers explain in this complaint that Apple imposes a single application store, managed by it, and prohibits any other alternative store that would allow healthier competition and a wider choice for consumers.
French publishers attack Apple on its own ground
This class action is managed by two law firms, Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi in France and Hagens Berman on American soil. The choice of the latter is not trivial since he has already faced Apple on the same subject.
The firm had thus won some 100 million dollars returned to developers and adjustments to the conditions of use of the App Store, such as the possibility of communicating more with the user on the possibilities of purchase outside the application store. .
Le GESTE, the Société du Figaro and L’Équipe want a trial to be able to ” repair the harm Apple has caused to iOS developers residing in France through its violations of U.S. antitrust law and California’s fair competition law “. In other words, the plaintiffs believe that Apple violated US antitrust law, not European, hence the filing of the complaint on Californian soil.
The law firms now want other publishers to join this complaint and obtain substantial damages during a trial.
Source : The Register
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