Apple faces new legal requirements
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill will set higher standards for fair treatment of consumers, reports The Guardian.
Firms that are deemed to have “strategic market status” – such as tech firms Google and Apple, and online retailer Amazon – will be given strict rules on how to operate under the bill and face a fine representing up to 10% of global turnover if they breach the new regime […]
Firms could be required to open up their data to rival search engines or increase the transparency of how their app stores and review systems work.
In particular, the bill will tackle fake reviews, and so-called “subscription traps” – where it is easy for consumers to start a subscription, but difficult to end it.
The current draft provisions propose making it illegal to post fake reviews without checking that they are genuine, commission someone to write a fake review or offer to submit one […]
The legislation will also target so-called subscription traps in which businesses make it difficult for consumers to quit a contract. Under the new rules, which will not be limited to firms with strategic market status, companies must remind consumers when a free trial or low-cost introductory offer is coming to an end and ensure that a contract can be exited in a “straightforward, cost-effective and timely way”.
Enforcement will be run by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which will also decide which companies qualify as having strategic market status. Since the CMA has already labeled Apple, Amazon, and Google as having market dominance for the purposes of other antitrust legislation, it’s a safe conclusion that they will also be in scope for this bill.