Spotify to Allow In-App Purchases for Subscriptions, Audiobooks on iPhone in Europe After March DMA Deadline

Spotify to Allow In-App Purchases for Subscriptions, Audiobooks on iPhone in Europe After March DMA Deadline

Spotify users in Europe from March will be able to buy audiobooks and subscription plans from within the music-streaming app as a result of the region’s new competition law for Big Tech, the Swedish company said on Wednesday. The move will help the company avoid Apple’s 30 percent fee for…

Meta Allows EU Users to Access Instagram, Facebook, Messenger Separately to Comply With Regulations

Meta Allows EU Users to Access Instagram, Facebook, Messenger Separately to Comply With Regulations

Facebook parent Meta will allow users in the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland to prevent information from being shared across the company’s apps. As a result, people who live in these regions will be able to use Instagram and Facebook separately, even if they are connected on the…

US Supreme Court Rejects Appeals From Apple, Epic Games Over App Store Antitrust Ruling

US Supreme Court Rejects Appeals From Apple, Epic Games Over App Store Antitrust Ruling

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge by Apple to a lower court’s decision requiring changes to certain rules in its lucrative App Store, as the justices shunned the lengthy legal battle between the iPhone maker and Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite….

Spotify Allowed to Sidestep Play Store Fees as Part of Confidential Deal, Google Executive Says

Spotify Allowed to Sidestep Play Store Fees as Part of Confidential Deal, Google Executive Says

Google allowed Spotify to sidestep the company’s mandatory Play Store fees, a company executive reportedly confirmed while giving testimony during the ongoing Epic vs Google trial. The Verge reports that a confidential deal with the streaming giant has come to light, revealing that Spotify was allowed to process its own payments…

Google Paid Billions to Make Play Store and Assistant Default Apps on Samsung Phones, Google Executive Says

Google Paid Billions to Make Play Store and Assistant Default Apps on Samsung Phones, Google Executive Says

Google paid Samsung billions of dollars in order to make the search giant’s app store, assistant, search engine, and other services the default options on smartphones made by the latter, according to information that has emerged during the ongoing Google vs Epic Games trial. On Monday, Google Vice President for…

Apple Filing Reveals iPhone Maker Expects to Change App Store Policy to Comply With EU Regulation

Apple Filing Reveals iPhone Maker Expects to Change App Store Policy to Comply With EU Regulation

Apple expects it will be compelled to make changes to its App Store policies, as the firm must comply with the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA). The iPhone maker’s recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows the company expects to make policy changes related to applications…

Broadcom Said to Gain Conditional EU Antitrust Approval for VMware Deal

Broadcom Said to Gain Conditional EU Antitrust Approval for VMware Deal

US chipmaker Broadcom is set to gain conditional EU antitrust approval for its $61 billion (nearly Rs. 5,03,000 crore) proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, people familiar with the matter said, sending its shares up by almost 5 percent. The European Commission’s clearance is tied to remedies relating to…

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan Met EU’s Antitrust Chief to Discuss Microsoft’s Activision Deal

PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan Met EU’s Antitrust Chief to Discuss Microsoft’s Activision Deal

Sony’s gaming chief Jim Ryan met EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager on Wednesday to discuss Microsoft’s $69 billion (about Rs. 5,62,647 crore) bid for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The meeting came as the EU competition watchdog prepares to warn…

Google Announces Sweeping Changes for Android Device Makers in India After Supreme Court Upholds CCI Order

Google Announces Sweeping Changes for Android Device Makers in India After Supreme Court Upholds CCI Order

Google said on Wednesday it will allow device makers in India to license its individual apps for pre-installation and give an option to users to choose their default search engine, announcing sweeping changes to how its Android system operates. The move comes after the country’s Supreme Court upheld stringent antitrust…

CCI Denies Google Allegations That It ‘Copy-Pasted’ EU’s Antitrust Order on Android

CCI Denies Google Allegations That It ‘Copy-Pasted’ EU’s Antitrust Order on Android

The Competitions Commission of India on Thursday denied allegations by Google that investigators had “copy-pasted” parts of a European ruling against the US firm for abusing the market dominance of its Android platform. “We have not cut, copy and paste,” N Venkataraman, a government lawyer representing the Competition Commission of…