Italian Watchdog Confirms Third Antitrust Inquiry into Apple

Italy's antitrust regulator has today opened another inquiry into Apple for allegedly improper commercial practices with regards to cloud computing services (via Reuters).

italyapplestore

The investigation will also look into the practices of Google and Dropbox, in addition to Apple. The L'Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) did not release further information or state how long the investigation would take, and Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

"The proceedings relate to alleged improper commercial practices and the possible inclusion of unfair clauses in contract conditions," the AGCM said in a statement.

The investigation is the third by the AGCM into Apple. In July, the AGCM began scrutinizing Apple and Amazon over allegations that the two companies blocked the sale of Apple and Beats devices to resellers in order to stifle competition. Each investigation is separate and managed irrespective of other ongoing investigations.

A previous AGCM probe looked into the company for iPhone battery slowdowns, which the antitrust watchdog said was a form of planned obsolescence. It subsequently demanded a 10 million euro fine from Apple as a sanction.

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...

Top Rated Comments

ThunderSkunk Avatar
67 months ago
Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
67 months ago
It reminds me of sharks. Once there's blood in the water, the entire shiver crowds in for their share.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gfbio Avatar
67 months ago

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol
Well, your comment is deeply unjustified as a lot of things changed in the last years.
You'd better focus on Mr. President :)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bsolar Avatar
67 months ago

Failed states with no high-tech industries are looking for money. When will Italy go bankrupt? This year or next?
Italy's GDP has trended more or less in-line with the EU, about -12% this quarter. USA's GDP is at -31% in the same period...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
67 months ago

Well, the Italian government has to maintain its high standards for ethical behavior and culture of fairness in business...

lololololol
And they really need the money. All the country’s riches were scavenged by the local church empire rendering many of their ancient cities into total ruins.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bsolar Avatar
67 months ago
The official announcement from AGCM is here ('https://www.agcm.it/media/comunicati-stampa/2020/9/CV194-CV195-CV196-PS11147-PS11149-PS11150') (in Italian). There are a few details:

* The investigation for unfair practices is about lack of proper notification to the user of personal data collection for commercial purposes. Furthermore, apparently they take issue that cloud storage services are being linked to such data collection without giving the user the ability to deny consent.
* The investigation for unfair contractual clauses is about the ability the services operators grant themselves to suspend service, deny liabilities in case of user data loss, the ability to unilaterally modify contract clauses and lack of a full Italian versions of the contract text.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)