Yahoo Finance Apple Software Chief Uses EU Conference to Rally Against New Law
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s top software executive rallied against Europe’s proposed Digital Markets Act, saying requirements in the law would undermine the iPhone’s security and create a malware “gold rush.”
Most Read from Bloomberg
Why Hong Kong Is Building Apartments the Size of Parking Spaces
The Rising Pacific Forces a Native Village to Move. Who Will Pay?
The proposed legislation, under consideration by EU lawmakers, includes provisions that would require companies such as Apple to allow third-party app stores on their devices.
“European policy makers have often been ahead of the curve, but requiring sideloading on iPhone would be a step backward,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon on Wednesday.
“Instead of creating choice, it would open a Pandora’s Box of unreviewed, malware-ridden software and deny everyone the option of iPhone’s secure approach,” he said.
Read more: Why App Store fees are drawing fire -- QuickTake
Federighi’s comments come as Apple faces global pressure from regulators and litigation to open the App Store to competition, threatening what analysts estimate brings in more than $20 billion a year for the iPhone maker.
In September, a U.S. federal judge ruled Apple must let developers of mobile applications steer consumers to outside payment methods, but stopped short of ordering the company to allow third-party app marketplaces to run on its operating system.
Read more: How Apple’s App Store grip is loosening
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
The Chairman Who Went to War With His Family to Get the Company Back
One of the World’s Poorest Countries Found a Better Way to Do Stimulus
India’s Race to Vaccinate Its Villages Meets With Rural Resistance
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
