Apple Protests European Commission’s €500 Million DMA Fine

Link-out fees collected from developers are a bargaining chip as Apple fights against the Digital Markets Act.

Apple will battle the European Commission in court to try to overturn a €500 million ($587 million) fine imposed by the commission in April, according to an appeal filed on Monday. At stake is the much-debated App Store ecosystem, which the commission said was in violation of the Digital Markets Act.

Specifically, the DMA states tech companies can’t block app makers from accepting payments through third-party services. The European Commission enforces EU laws, including the Digital Markets Act.

Apple’s App Store and its design to keep monetary transactions inside approved apps as much as possible has gotten the company  in trouble before. Both lawmakers and companies with a significant financial stake in their mobile apps have protested it ...