Apple's App Store Rules Breach EU Tech Rules, EU Regulators Say 

16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. (dpa)
16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. (dpa)
TT

Apple's App Store Rules Breach EU Tech Rules, EU Regulators Say 

16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. (dpa)
16 September 2023, US, New York: The Apple logo, taken at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. (dpa)

Apple's App Store rules breach EU tech rules known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) because they prevent app developers from steering consumers to alternative offers, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday.

The European Commission, which also acts as the EU antitrust and technology regulator, said it had sent its preliminary findings to Apple following an investigation launched in March.

The EU executive said it was also opening an investigation into the iPhone maker over its new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores.

It singled out Apple's three business terms.

"None of these business terms allow developers to freely steer their customers. For example, developers cannot provide pricing information within the app or communicate in any other way with their customers to promote offers available on alternative distribution channels," the EU watchdog said.



X Names Brazil Legal Representative as It Fights Ban in the Country

A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
TT

X Names Brazil Legal Representative as It Fights Ban in the Country

A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
A view of a laptop shows the Twitter sign-in page with their logo, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X has named a legal representative in Brazil, the firm's lawyers said on Friday, in a move that would address one of the demands imposed by Brazil's top court to allow the company to operate in the country.

Andre Zonaro and Sergio Rosenthal, who were recently appointed as X's lawyers in Brazil, told Reuters that colleague Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao was chosen as the firm's legal representative, and that they had submitted her name to the Supreme Court.

Brazilian law requires foreign companies to name a legal representative to operate in the country. The representative would assume the legal responsibilities for the firm locally.

X had a legal representative in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices in the country.

In late August, Brazil's top court ordered mobile and internet service providers to block X in the nation, and users were cut off within hours after X did not name a new legal representative.

The move followed a months-long dispute between Musk and Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes over the firm's non-compliance with court orders demanding the platform take action against the spread of hate speech.

Courts have previously blocked accounts implicated in probes of spreading misinformation and hate, which Musk has denounced as censorship.

On Thursday, the lawyers representing X in Brazil said the firm was starting to comply with orders on removing content, another demand from the top court.