France Takes Legal Issue With Google And Apple’s App Store Dictatorships

Unlike the economic system in the U.S. where the free market rules mean looser interpretations of anti-consumer practices, France is taking the monopolistic and dictatorial approach of Google and Apple when it comes to its app stores more seriously. Specifically, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire is taking issue with the fact that the two tech giants have too much power over the app industry.

As it stands, app developers hardly have any power when it comes to their products. Both Google and Apple have free reign to do absolutely anything they want, be it taking down the apps at a moment’s notice with no explanation, dictating the terms of fees, and giving developers no ability to negotiate. This is why France is now planning on taking legal action, Bloomberg reports.

“I learned that when developers develop their applications, and sell to Google and Apple, their prices are imposed, Google and Apple take all their data, Google and Apple can unilaterally rewrite their contracts,” Le Maire revealed in a recent RTL radio interview. “All that is unacceptable and it’s not the economy that we want. They can’t treat our startups and developers the way they do.”

In response to the accusations and threats of legal action, Google said that its terms are in compliance with existing French laws. As such, it plans to take the matter to the courts. In typical Apple fashion, the maker of the iPhone has so far declined to comment on the issue.

As TechCrunch notes, this is also the second time in recent months that France has taken issue with tech giants. The previous case involved the responsibilities of companies like Google and Apple with regards to Net Neutrality. ARCEP President Sébastien Soriano was actually of the opinion that a free internet should extend beyond just the carriers but also all digital entities on the web.