Welcome to the Tech Meme Right Home for Tuesday, April 27th, 2021.

I'm Brian McCullough today.

Is the EU about to bring the hammer down on Apple?

Our Apple M2 chips right around the corner.

Spotify launches its podcast subscription offering and it's an interesting contrast

to Apple's. A whole slew of new fire tablets from Amazon, Lift exits the self-driving game,

and we're in a dark new world when it comes to ransomware attacks.

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech.

Normally I might wait for the news to actually happen before telling you about it

but this is big enough that it's probably good to be aware if this is indeed

coming down the pike. Sources have told the Financial Times that the European Union might charge Apple with anti-competitive

behavior later this week over concerns that the rules Apple sets for developers in the App Store break EU law,

quoting the Financial Times.

The charges relate to a complaint brought two years ago by Spotify,

the music streaming app, that Apple takes 30% commission to distribute

apps through its iPhone App Store and forbids apps from directing users to pay for

subscriptions elsewhere. Brussels is also investigating Apple for allegedly breaking EU laws when it comes to promoting

its own e-books over rivals on the App Store and over concerns that it undermines competition

in mobile payments by limiting access to the near-field communications chips in iPhones for rivals to Apple pay.

If Apple is ultimately found guilty of breaking EU rules after a long period of potential appeals.

The company faces a fine of up to 10% of global revenues.

Separately, Brussels is pushing through a new digital markets act that seeks to define when big

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