The European consumer regulators, including the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), and the European Commission are addressing Apple for a possible violation of consumer law. They see that Apple does not give consumers the same access to its Apple Media Services, including the App Store, in all European countries.
Based on the Geo-blocking Regulation, a company may not discriminate against a consumer simply because he lives in another Member State or has a different nationality. The action is led by the Belgian, German and Irish consumer regulators.
The regulators have informed Apple that they see three suspected violations, particularly in the App Store: access to the app store is limited to the country of registration or the country where the consumer lives; downloading apps in another country, for example while on holiday, is not possible; the use of payment methods such as credit cards is limited to the country in which the card is issued.
Apple will have one month to respond to these conclusions and resolve these issues for consumers within applicable regulations.
Source: www.emerce.nl
