The European Commission is ordering Apple to stop geoblocking, i.e. restricting users’ access to services based on their geographic location. Despite this practice being banned, Apple appears to have done so with several of its own services, including the App Store, Apple Arcade, Apple Music and iTunes.
Under the 2018 EU Geoblocking Regulation, companies are prohibited from restricting access to digital services (and products) within the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The aim is to give consumers equal access to the same services everywhere.
Research led by the Commission and conducted with the cooperation of authorities in Belgium, Germany and Ireland found that consumers could not access the same services and content available in other EU or EEA countries that are not EU member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).
For example, users could not change the registered country of their Apple account or access interfaces specific to their country of origin. According to the EC, this limits their choices when traveling or staying temporarily in another EU country.
Being able to buy anything anywhere
In addition, Apple limits users’ payment methods depending on whether these are available in the country where the user’s account is registered. This is not allowed: even though payment methods can vary from country to country, the EC does not allow users to suddenly be deprived of access to the payment method they use at home when traveling to another country.
Also, when staying in other countries, users sometimes could not download apps or content because they were not available in that country. Even if it is an app about public transportation in Spain, for example, as a German you should be able to download it in Italy, following the logic of the regulation.
Apple will now first have a month to get its affairs in order. If the company fails to do so, it will be up to the individual member states to take further action. They can do so with the EC’s negative ruling as underlying evidence.
Applied to both digital and physical products
The 2018 regulation covers both digital and physical goods and services. Think of hotel bookings, airline tickets, car rentals, and products from online stores. Operators must allow all potential buyers from EU/EEA countries to access their platform. The same applies to software, e-books, and streaming services.
In practice, some services are unavailable depending on location: think of a Netflix series that cannot be watched in some countries. This is likely due to specific rights issues and content licensing practices that may vary from country to country. The user’s location is not the limiting factor in such cases.
Also read: Google and Apple must pay billions in fines from European Court of Justice