Italy fines Apple for misleading consumers

Italy's anti-trust authority said Tuesday it was imposing a 900,000-euro ($1.2-million) fine on US tech giant Apple for misleading consumers on assistance services and guarantees for its products.

"Sanctions of a total of 900,000 euros have been imposed on the Apple group after it was found responsible for bad commercial practices that harmed consumers," the agency said in a statement.

Apple had given "unclear information on payments for additional assistance offered to consumers" and the company had not "fully implemented the two-year guarantee by the producer," it added.

European antitrust officials earlier this month launched a probe to determine whether Apple and five international publishers struck illegal deals to fix the price of e-books in Europe.

Apple has also come under pressure from a bitter global legal battle with South Korean electronics giant Samsung, which accuses the US giant of infringing four of its patents with the iPhone.

Apple reported a record net profit of $6.62 billion (5.06 billion euros) in the third quarter of this year.

(c) 2011 AFP