PARIS – The French government is taking Google and Apple to court, accusing that both tech giants have taken advantage of app developers with “abusive commercial practices.”
The Finance Minister of the European country, Bruno Le Maire told RTL that the government has a problem with the onerous conditions the tech giants impose on French startups. “When developers want to sell apps with Google or Apple, they must pay a fee,
“But Google and Apple also gather data, and can unilaterally alter the contract terms. All of that is unacceptable,” he added.
France wants to close the loopholes that allow Google, Apple, Facebook and other tech giants to avoid taxes on the billions of dollars of revenues they collect in the country.
“We want to be able to tax the giant tech companies in Europe starting in 2019,” said Le Maire.
France sued Google in 2016, demanding $1.7 billion in back taxes, and declined to settle for a lesser amount like the UK did.
However, a French court found in favour of Google, saying it obeyed European laws and wouldn’t have to pay a dime (the government has vowed to appeal).
Google and Apple are the two major players in smartphone operating systems, with Android and iOS taking up almost all of the market between them.
