The EU demanded that Apple stop geoblocking in the App Store and other services

The European Union has demanded that Apple stop using geo-blocking – restricting access to content depending on the user’s geographic location – in services such as the App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts, writes Reuters.

Image source: OpenClipart-Vectors/Pixabay

The European Union’s main regulator, the European Commission, said it had identified the use of prohibited geo-blocking practices on some Apple media services and threatened enforcement action by national regulators if Apple did not abandon such practices that violate European law.

«We are intensifying the fight against geo-blocking. “No company, big or small, should unfairly discriminate against customers on the basis of their nationality, place of residence or place of establishment,” said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition and the Digital Economy.

The EU gave Apple only one month to provide obligations to eliminate the identified geoblocking, after which, apparently, organizational conclusions will follow.

Previously, Valve and five video game publishers, including Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax, were fined a total of €7.8 million for using geo-blocking in the European Economic Area. An attempt by Valve, which owns the digital distribution platform Steam, to appeal a fine of €1.6 million in the European Court of General Jurisdiction did not lead to anything.