Epic takes their battle against Apple to the UK Competition and Markets Authority

Epic and their Coalition for App Fairness has decided to take a piecemeal approach to attacking Apple’s monopoly on distributing apps on the iPhone to various more local authorities around the world, including individual states in the US and now also the Competition and Markets Authority in UK.

The Competition and Markets Authority has now launched an investigation into whether Apple’s policies are anti-competitive towards developers.

“Millions of us use apps every day to check the weather, play a game or order a takeaway,” said Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA. “So complaints that Apple is using its market position to set terms which are unfair or may restrict competition and choice – potentially causing customers to lose out when buying and using apps – warrant careful scrutiny.”

Apple has defended its policies, saying: “We believe in thriving and competitive markets where any great idea can flourish. The App Store has been an engine of success for app developers, in part because of the rigorous standards we have in place – applied fairly and equally to all developers – to protect customers from malware and to prevent rampant data collection without their consent. We look forward to working with the UK Competition and Markets Authority to explain how our guidelines for privacy, security and content have made the App Store a trusted marketplace for both consumers and developers.”

Apple recently suffered a blow when Arizona lawmakers passed legislation that banned the company from prohibiting developers from being forced to use their payment service, but this law still has to pass the Arizona senate and may therefore still fall at the last hurdle.

via the BBC