EU Regulators Warn Apple About Geo-Blocking Practices

The European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network said Monday (Nov. 11) that Apple may face enforcement measures if it does not stop its geo-blocking practices on certain Apple Media services.

The tech giant has one month to propose how it will address these practices, and then the network will either begin a dialogue with Apple or take enforcement measures to ensure compliance, the commission said in a Monday press release.

“No company, big or small, should unjustly discriminate customers based on their nationality, place of residence or place of establishment,” Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said in the release. “Preventing geo-blocking helps consumers access the goods and services they want across Europe and strengthens the functioning and integrity of our single market.”

Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The European Union’s Geo-Blocking Regulation prohibits unjustified discrimination between EU customers when they want to buy goods and services from sellers in another member state, while its Services Directive generally prohibits discrimination based on nationality or place of residence when selling access to a service, according to the release.

The network and the commission found that Apple uses potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices on its App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts, the release said.

These practices include allowing consumers to access only the interface made for the country where they registered their Apple account, allowing consumers to use only means of payment issued in the country where they registered their Apple account, and preventing consumers from downloading the apps offered in other EU/EEA countries, per the release.

The EU signed off on a plan to end geo-blocking in November 2017, saying it aims to create one digital marketplace for all EU members.

In an earlier, separate enforcement action, the commission launched an antitrust investigation in 2019 into several publishers of digital games and found that their geo-blocking practices were in violation of the EU’s single market rules.

This finding led to fines being imposed on the companies involved in the investigation.