The French consumer advocacy group Consommation, Logement et Cadre de Vie (CLCV) has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, reports Le Monde.
The claim is, basically, that paying subscribers to Spotify, Deezer, YouTube Music, Tidal and Qobuz been prejudiced by Apple’s practices.
“The aim of this action is to secure compensation for all affected consumers,” the CLCV said. “Subscriptions purchased via an iPhone or iPad were €1 to €3 more expensive per month than those bought directly on the streaming services’ websites.” CLCV is pointing to Apple’s 30% fees (reduced to 15% from the second year) applied to subscriptions purchased through its App Store.”
Le Monde says this “economic prejudice” is compounded by a “moral prejudice” that’s linked to “the deprivation of fair information and the restriction of their freedom of choice.”
The CLCV case relies on a March 2024 decision by the European Commission. Following complaints from Spotify and others, Apple was fined €1.8 billion for “abusing its dominant position” by requiring music streaming app publishers to use only its in-app payment system to be listed on the App Store. “Any person or company affected by anti-competitive behavior as described in this case may bring the matter before the courts of the Member States and seek damages,” the Commission stated at the time.
Le Monde says the CLCV is “relying on this ruling to file a representative action, a relatively new type of lawsuit in Europe created by a 2020 directive and implemented in France since April.”
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today
