hello,小树枝们,又碰头啦!今日咱们一同来看一篇经济?的文章《踢踏舞》。
当地时刻5月2日,欧盟反独占监管机构指控美国苹果公司“捆绑竞赛对手造访其nfc芯片功用,然后坚持苹果公司自个的手机付出功用的独占方位”。假定该指控树立,苹果公司将面临高额罚款。
1.文章条理
2.外刊原文
trustbusterstake aim at apple’s cloutin contactless payments
【para.1】there is not yet an app to keep track of the growingnumber of antitrustcomplaints against apple. but perhaps there should be. on may 2nd the european commission, the eu’s executive arm, added another to the pile. following an investigation begun in 2021, it sent the smartphone-maker a “statement of objections”, saying that, in the commission’s view, apple is abusing its power in the market for smartphone payments.
【para.2】at issue is apple pay, a contactless-payment service introduced in 2014. apple pay uses a specialised radio called a near-field communication (nfc) chip to allow an iphone to work like a contactless credit card. users who have loaded their banking details onto their phones can wave them at contactless-payment terminals to pay for things. apple collects a fee from the user’s bank for each transaction.
【para.3】the service has quickly become popular: in 2021 bernstein, a financial firm, estimated apple pay accounted for about 5% of global card transactions, and forecast that it might reach 10% by 2025. the problem, in the commission’s view, is that i os, the operating system used by iphones, allows only apple’s own mobile-wallet software to make use of the nfc chip. that freezes out rivals who might want to build competing payment apps of their own. android, a rival smartphone operating system maintained by 谷歌, does allow third-party apps access to a phone’s nfc chip, meaning that android users can choose contactless-capable smart wallets from firms such as 谷歌, samsung, paypal and others.
【para.4】the commission’s findings are only preliminary. but if a full investigation comes to the same conclusion, apple would be in breach of european competition laws, and exposed—at least in theory—to fines of up to 10% of its worldwide turnover. the firm will have further chances to argue its corner before the commission issues a final decision, a process that could take many months.
【para.5】the antitrust probe is the latest in a string of attacks on apple’s business model by app developers, rival firms and governments. apple runs the iphone as a “walled garden”, in which the firm imposes tight controls on which apps are allowed to run on its devices, and on what t
hose apps are allowed to do. apple says its restrictions are there for the privacy and security of its users, an argument it has repeated in response to the commission’s allegations.
【para.6】others, though, allege less noble motives. in 2021 epic games, the maker of “fortnite”, a popular video game, and “unreal”, a software engine on which hundreds of other video games are built, sued apple, claiming that its refusal to allow rival firms to process payments made from within apps was anticompetitive. (epic had wanted to offer fortnite players a rival, cheaper payment system.) after losing the initial case, epic has appealed—this time with support from microsoft, america’s department of justice and 35 individual states.
【para.7】similar complaints by spotify, a music-streaming firm, helped prompt another eu antitrust investigation in 2021; a third is under way in britain. following a complaint from match group, an operator of dating sites, dutch trustbusters found apple’s in-app payments policies to be anticompetitive in october. they fined the firm 5m a week every week between january and march 28th (when it reached the 50m maximum fine, a cap the watchdogs have not yet raised).
【para.8】investigations and court cases, of course, are not foregone conclusions. but even if apple wins some battles, it could still lose the war. on march 24th the eu agreed the text of the digital markets act (dma), a bumper piece of legislation designed to force big tech firms to open their platforms up to competition. one of its themes is to try to forbid companies from giving preferential treatment to their own apps and services. the dma would require apple to allow users to install apps from places other than apple’s own app store, and force it to allow rivals to provide in-app payment tools of their own. the walls are not looking as solid as they were.
3.要点词汇
tap dance n. [ uc ] a style of dancing in which you tap the rhythm of the music with your feet, wearing special shoes with pieces of metal on the heels and toes 踢踏舞 for the talent portion of the audition, i did a comprehensive dance combination including elements of jazz dance, tap dance, ballroom, ballet, and shaolin kung fu. 在海选的才艺招戮有些我扮演了一段组合舞蹈,包括爵士、踢踏舞、交际舞、斗牛和少林功夫等元素。
trustbuster n. /?tr?st?b?st?/ a person who seeks the dissolution of corporate trusts, esp a federal official who prosecutes trusts under the antitrust laws 需求闭幕托拉斯的人(反独占机构) at any rate, her successful tenure as europe’s chief trustbuster could end on some jarring notes. 不管如何,她作为欧洲首席反独占官员的成功任期可以会在一些不好谐的声响中结束。
clout n. /kla?t/ power and influence 影响力;实力 political/financial clout 政治╱经济实力 i knew his opinion carried a lot of clout with them. 我晓得他的观念对他们很有影响力
growing adj. /?ɡr????/ [ only before noun] increasing in size, amount or degree 添加的;增加的;增强的 a growing number of people are returning to full-time education. 越来越多的人重返学校承受全日制教育。 one of the country’s fastest growing industries 这个国家增加最快的作业之一
antitrust adj. /??nti?tr?st/ [ only before noun ]( of laws 法令 ) preventing companies or groups of companies from controlling prices unfairly 反托拉斯的;反独占的 restarting antitrust for the information age will not be easy. 重启信息年代的反独占并非易事。
【声明】:这篇文章原文摘选自may 7th–13th 2022| finance & economics,原文版权归杂志一切,仅供自个学习交流运用。
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