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How will that entity continue operating in the EU when its only business is selling devices that are infringing on EU laws, and it is unable to reach compliance

by jsnell 3y ago

How will that entity continue operating in the EU when its only business is selling devices that are infringing on EU laws, and it is unable to reach compliance? It can't. Either the company shuts down, stops selling Apple devices, or the proceeds of their illegal sales will be garnished before they can pay Apple. It is a plan that is functionally identical to Apple leaving the EU. Apple can choose not to operate in the EU. That's a totally legit and acceptable outcome. But that means they have to actually give up that revenue. Any attempt at laundering it will just mean that the penalties apply to whatever entity they try to use for the regulatory evasion. (Or I guess shrink their presence to do small that the DMA no longer applies. But again, this is Apple. They'll rather hand out user data to the Chinese government than leave China and all their juicy money.)

scarface_74 3y ago
The separately owned will have an App Store compliant with the DMA.
- jsnell 3y ago
  (As an aside, I think this discussion was about browsers, not about app stores. It matters a bit, because for browsers, the main complaint on Apple's proposal seems to be the geo-restriction, while for app stores nobody is complaining about that but there are plenty of other issues.) If the EC decides to interpret the rules as requiring compliance globally rather than just within the EU, and the courts were to uphold it, it would be irrelevant that Apple's sales are being done via some shell company. If anything, it would probably be considered worse, since it'd be a clear attempt at circumventing the law. The products that the shell company would be selling would be found illegal, and one way or other the operation would stop. And the effect would be that Apple would have left the EU. If your plan were actually a thing, every American company would already be doing it just to shield themselves against GDPR (which has fines based on global revenue, not EU revenue). But they don't do it, because it wouldn't work.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Companies are already blocking access to their sites in the EU because of the GPDR
    - jsnell 3y ago
      Indeed! They're doing the one thing I've said in each of my previous four messages in this thread is the way to avoid being bound by EU laws: by not doing business in the EU. What they aren't doing is trying your plan of creating a shell company to break the laws on their behalf.
      - scarface_74 3y ago
        Do you think that EU could have enforced browser choice on Microsoft worldwide? Patents? Copyrights?

by jsnell 3y ago

scarface_74 3y ago

The separately owned will have an App Store compliant with the DMA.

jsnell 3y ago
(As an aside, I think this discussion was about browsers, not about app stores. It matters a bit, because for browsers, the main complaint on Apple's proposal seems to be the geo-restriction, while for app stores nobody is complaining about that but there are plenty of other issues.) If the EC decides to interpret the rules as requiring compliance globally rather than just within the EU, and the courts were to uphold it, it would be irrelevant that Apple's sales are being done via some shell company. If anything, it would probably be considered worse, since it'd be a clear attempt at circumventing the law. The products that the shell company would be selling would be found illegal, and one way or other the operation would stop. And the effect would be that Apple would have left the EU. If your plan were actually a thing, every American company would already be doing it just to shield themselves against GDPR (which has fines based on global revenue, not EU revenue). But they don't do it, because it wouldn't work.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Companies are already blocking access to their sites in the EU because of the GPDR
  - jsnell 3y ago
    Indeed! They're doing the one thing I've said in each of my previous four messages in this thread is the way to avoid being bound by EU laws: by not doing business in the EU. What they aren't doing is trying your plan of creating a shell company to break the laws on their behalf.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      Do you think that EU could have enforced browser choice on Microsoft worldwide? Patents? Copyrights?