UK Planning Huge Fines for Companies Like Apple That Do Not Meet New Rules

[mikethemartian]

How can one country decide to fine a company 10% of their global annual turnover? That just ridiculous.
what if 11 countries did that? 10% of their UK turnover is much more realistic.

Or am I missing something?

As long as a company remains in a country that country can impose fines of any value its laws allow. If they want a dollar for every grain of sand on every beach on the Earth and their local law allows that then they can impose that fine. Obviously doesn’t mean they are going to get it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

This is directly a consequence of Apple paying the Dutch regulators' fines without complaint. Remember all those comments of, "this is just pocket change to Apple!"

Ignore these fines for a few weeks and see what happens.

My guess is that what happens would be that the money they could possibly make in the UK would be overshadowed by the immense cost of doing business in the UK. The shareholders would demand that Apple not continue operations at a loss in the UK.

 

[desslr]

Sorry Apple! Our government has had a taste for power and you are the next victim of our brutal nanny state. Total overreach. We should not have any authority over a foreign company.

The “x% of global turnover” is a joke, should be, at most, “x% of turnover in the jurisdiction”.

 

[siddavis]

UK articles go here. EU articles go there.

 

[wordsworth]

UK articles form a queue, please.

 

[WiseAJ]

How else are the corrupt government officials going to make their money? Gotta steal it from overseas companies under the falsehood of consumer protection.

 

[toontra]

Bad news for Apple shareholders and fanboys. Good news for everyone else.

 

[AppliedMicro]

How can one country decide to fine a company 10% of their global annual turnover? That just ridiculous.
what if 11 countries did that? […]

Or am I missing something?

How can the US sentence and imprison people for more years than anyone has ever lived?

But back to topic: Even if 11 countries did that, Apple has enough cash reserves to pay the fines.

Also, these fines are hardly ever exhausted to the legal maximum - nor do they come out of nowhere.
Regulators will usually issue a friendly reminder to change / adjust business practises first.

And there’s always the choices of leaving - or obeying the law.

 

[Mousse]

The DCMS's proposals include provisions to make it easier for users to switch between iOS and Android,

The only way to make it easier to switch between iOS and Android is force a consistent UI. Gawd the frakking UI changes with each new versions of iOS and Android...almost. In the late 90's, computer GUI finally had some sense of consistency thus making switching between MacOS/OSX, Windows and Linux easy as pi.

and give users more control over search engines

We can choose our search engine in our browsers. Users need to learn accountablity.

and how their data is used.

Yas!😎 This hill is where I die. This line in the sand they cannot cross. 🧙‍♂️Data miners shall not pass.🧙‍♂️

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Didn't Apple first pave the way so that we no longer had to buy stupid CDs, or rent BlueRays.

Why are CDs stupid? Physical media (including "BlueRays") are technically superior, which is great for those who don't need the convenience of download-only.

 

[tranceme]

I guess I need to teach my kids that being number 3 is better than number 1. When you're number 1, you will be knocked off. I remember when Apple released the App Store. Most said it would fail and didn't care. But, if everyone ends up using your service, it needs to be torn part. Being number 1 and 2 sucks.

 

[genovelle]

Apple are doing well here, so I don't see them leaving, but for companies where the profit margins are slim, these draconian regulations (this isn't the only UK example) will drive them away, and it will stop new entrants to the market.

Also, I can see Apple delaying new services to ensure they are compliant, and the same for many other companies.

The Conservatives are doing everything to shun the world, but seem surprised the UK is getting shunned by the world as a result.

I think they should turn of services that these countries make unprofitable. Leave a place holder that says, "Sorry the App Store is unavailable in your region to comply with recent changes to the regulations in your area. Thank you"

 

[Peepo]

I don't understand how the UK has authority to fine/penalize 10% on their annual "GLOBAL" turnover... what business is it of UK what Apple does elsewhere?
Edit... typo meant to say UK not EU.

 

[Moonjumper]

I don't understand how the EU has authority to fine/penalize 10% on their annual "GLOBAL" turnover... what business is it of EU what Apple does elsewhere?

This story is about the UK, not EU. Going on global turnover is because many companies place their income in tax havens, not where the customers are (I'm not saying Apple do this, but it is a common accusation against many digital businesses), so the official turnover for the UK may not match reality. But 10% of global turnover, plus extra for each day not met, is draconian when the UK is one more than 100 countries Apple operates in. The much bigger EU has a 4% max of global turnover for GDPR fines.

 

[siddavis]

I guess I need to teach my kids that being number 3 is better than number 1. When you're number 1, you will be knocked off. I remember when Apple released the App Store. Most said it would fail and didn't care. But, if everyone ends up using your service, it needs to be torn part. Being number 1 and 2 sucks.

Ha, the whole social construct is being remade to promote "number 3" as the desired position.

 

[ct2k7]

Hope apple and google have an exit strategy. Let the EU citizenry use duckduckago.

Article is about the UK, not the EU.

Or have you missed that?

 

[Scoob Redux]

This is great news. If we have any hope of getting corporations under control, it will come from Europe. In the U.S., lawmakers are paid for by corporations and enact toothless "regulations" with small fines in the millions or tens of millions that are just like a small "fee" for screwing over consumers. If Apple was threatened with fines that could really matter, we could see more pro-consumer developments (alas, in Europe only).

 

[wbeasley]

Why do all these governments think they can dictate how phones work?

customers have been mostly happy for years.
the prices are down, power up.

could it be other factors?
like secure chat and online banking threaten them somehow?
old media losing control?
tech companies have more power than governments?

phones have certainly changed our lives.
but other devices have too and they don’t seem to rush to legislate against them.
just seems very odd…

 

[ct2k7]

Why do all these governments think they can dictate how phones work?

customers have been mostly happy for years.
the prices are down, power up.

could it be other factors?
like secure chat and online banking threaten them somehow?
old media losing control?
tech companies have more power than governments?

phones have certainly changed our lives.
but other devices have too and they don’t seem to rush to legislate against them.
just seems very odd…

Customers are only part of the market. There are other participants as well. They’re free to complain about business practices.

I am not sure the cost of iPhones are down… at least unsubsidised devices.

Phones are probably at the point where they are dictating social lives, they are a core tenet of society. A good portion of the population cannot function without mobile phones and social media.

I’d say phones have had more of an impact than a gaming device.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

I was going to comment here that with the exception of food, clothing, shelter (and perhaps healthcare & transportation) the government should stay out of business’s way.

However, I’m happy to see that several of my MacRumors brethren from “across the pond” are doing a fine job of taking it to their own government!

Good day chaps! Keep up the good work!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I guess I need to teach my kids that being number 3 is better than number 1. When you're number 1, you will be knocked off. I remember when Apple released the App Store. Most said it would fail and didn't care. But, if everyone ends up using your service, it needs to be torn part. Being number 1 and 2 sucks.

Very likely why EU/UK companies are small by comparison. They KNOW what it’s like operating under those regimes and don’t want to risk it.

 

[I7guy]

Article is about the UK, not the EU.

Or have you missed that?

Nope.

 

[Peepo]

This story is about the UK, not EU. Going on global turnover is because many companies place their income in tax havens, not where the customers are (I'm not saying Apple do this, but it is a common accusation against many digital businesses), so the official turnover for the UK may not match reality. But 10% of global turnover, plus extra for each day not met, is draconian when the UK is one more than 100 countries Apple operates in. The much bigger EU has a 4% max of global turnover for GDPR fines.

Sorry, made typo and meant UK not EU.

 

[T-Bob]

‘Conservative’ = more government regulations. What strange new party is this.

 

[svish]

Apple is facing legal troubles everywhere. Looks like Apple will be forced to comply.