France To Seek Digital Regulation Changes Following AppGratis' App Store Removal

Earlier this week, we reported that Apple had pulled AppGratis from the App Store, seemingly without reason, fueling both a great deal of criticism and speculation. Following, it was revealed that the service had been pulled due to violating certain guidelines, primarily the one involving push notifications with advertisements and more. In light of this, Reuters is reporting that France will approach the European Commission to seek "tighter regulation."

AppGratis is a massively popular network for iOS app discovery, providing a free paid app every day to its millions of users across the globe. According to reports, AppGratis is raking in approximately $1 million in revenue per month, and had secured over $13 million in funding a few months ago. Because of its popularity, the network can bring hundreds of thousands of downloads and new users to an app.

Such popularity didn't spare it from Apple's wrath, however. Speculation originally had it that Apple had pulled the app for violating a guideline about displaying other apps for promotion and purchase. It was revealed a couple days later that the primary reason was a tad different, instead concerning push notifications containing "advertising, promotions, or direct marketing." In response, AppGratis's CEO gave a lengthy response, stating that Apple is destroying value within its ecosystem.

Now France is getting involved, coming to AppGratis' defense and saying that Apple's removal was "extremely brutal and unilateral," and that such a decision should not have been passed down for a company as large as AppGratis. Fleur Pellerin, a French junior minister, plans to ask the European Commission to improve regulation of Internet companies against abusive actions. Apple has a different story, however, telling Reuters that it had consulted with AppGratis about its issues, and that the company dismissed them.

[via Reuters]