Apple is in hot water in the EU. On Monday, Europe’s Competition Commission hit the company with a 1.8 billion euro ($1.95 billion) fine, after it concluded that Apple was preventing people from being told that they could pay less for music streaming services.
Currently, if you buy a subscription to a music streaming service within an iOS app, Apple will take a cut of that subscription. As a result, you’ll likely be charged the maximum price, and may be excluded from taking advantage of cheaper options that would be available outside of the app. But where the Commission takes issue with Apple’s rules is that the company prevents the streaming service you’re subscribing to from letting you know those cheaper options are available elsewhere. It also bans companies from following up with you outside of the app to let you know about cheaper alternative offers.
After a lengthy investigation, the Commission hit Apple with the fine and demanded that Apple change its rules to let streaming…