As Google and Apple are questioned about their control over the App Store market, the debate is also raging in France and in European tech, particularly in the run-up to the EU’s Digital Markets Act. .

On the occasion of France Digitale Day, Mark Buse, vice-president of Match Group, owner of dating applications such as Tinder or Meetic, and Andy Yen, founder of Proton, discussed during a debate entitled “David vs Goliath : the fight for the fairness of applications ”.

Both men belong to the Coalition for App Fairness, which aims to combat such monopoly practices, also advocating for a ban on the pre-installation of apps on our phones.

“The only way for apps to reach users is through two monopolies, which are side by side,” complained Buse, accusing app stores of being “black boxes with no transparency.” But, he said, “the dominoes are falling.”

“David is not doing so bad at the moment,” Andy Yen said with a laugh during an exchange with EURACTIV ahead of his discussion with Buse.

“Did we beat Goliath?” Not yet. But we are doing much better than anyone could have imagined, ”added the CEO of Proton.

The noose tightens

At the end of August, a new law was introduced in South Korea requiring app stores to allow alternative payment methods for purchases made on apps.

Concretely, users will now be able to use their bank card to pay for their purchases, without necessarily going through the internal system of the App Store or Google Play, which has allowed the digital giants to obtain a commission in the process.

“South Korea has proven that we can beat Apple and Google,” Buse said, hoping the new law will set a precedent that loosens the grip of the two digital giants. “It’s a simple law,” said Match Group vice president.

In the United States, the issue was raised by Epic Games after Apple banned Fortnight from its app store for inserting its own payment system into the game, claiming it was violating its terms of payment. ‘use.

The Apple App Store is also targeted by the French Fraud Control Commission (DGCCRF).

On September 17, the first hearing was held before the Paris Commercial Court in this legal procedure for “abusive commercial practices”. However, Apple opposed the participation of France Digitale, which sided with the government, thus postponing the case to a future hearing.

In Brussels, the future law on digital markets (DMA), currently pending before the European Parliament and the Council, “targets unfair practices by supervisors who do not fall under existing EU competition rules or cannot be also effectively covered by these rules, “said the European Commission proposal made last December.

The Commission’s text states that gatekeepers must enable “the installation and efficient use of third-party software applications or software application stores” – a decision that Apple CEO Tim Cook has frowned upon because it could “destroy the security of the iPhone,” he said. a Vivatech event in June.

However, the proposal specifies that “nothing prevents the custodian from taking proportionate measures” to ensure that these external app stores “do not compromise the integrity” of the devices.

The DMA could come into effect by January 2023, according to Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for digital.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Luca Bertuzzi]