Apple Inc. has appealed to a European court against the European Commission’s (EC) decision to fine the company €500 million in April this year for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The European regulator concluded that Apple restricts app developers’ ability to distribute their apps outside the App Store in violation of the DMA.
Earlier, Apple said it would appeal the EC’s decision. On Monday, the last day before the deadline, the company filed a lawsuit.
“We filed the appeal today because we believe the EC’s decision, as well as the unprecedented fine, are significantly beyond the requirements of the law,” the company said in a statement.
In April, the European regulator ordered the company to remedy the violations within 60 days, threatening additional penalties for non-compliance. Last month, Apple changed its App Store rules to bring them into line with EU requirements and avoid daily fines of 5% of average daily revenue, or around €50 million.
“As our appeal will show, the EC is telling the company how to run its store and forcing it to implement conditions that confuse developers and harm users. We are making these changes solely to avoid daily fines and will present all the facts to the court,” Apple said in a statement.
The company’s shares lost 0.5% in preliminary trading on Monday. Since the beginning of this year, their value has risen by 14.7%.
