The Italian watchdog ruled that the pair ran an anti-competitive operation to flog Apple and Beats products on the Amazon site.

Under a contract signed by both Apple and Amazon in 2018 only selected resellers were allowed to sell Apple and Beats products on Amazon.it. The competition watchdog said this was in violation of European Union rules.

The authority imposed a fine of 68.7 million euros on Amazon and 134.5 million euros on Apple, ordering the companies to end the restrictions to give retailers of genuine Apple and Beats products access to Amazon.it in a non-discriminatory manner.

Like every other time Apple runs an illegal cartel, the outfit has denied any wrongdoing and said it plans to appeal. When it was caught running an illegal operation with book publishers ironically to stick one to Amazon, it denied doing anything wrong even after its allies admitted it and dragged the case out for years. Then, when it was finally found guilty, it fought with the court-appointed watchdog who was supposed to help Apple make the same mistakes again.

A spokesApple said the move was part of its plan to ensure our customers “purchase genuine products.”

“We work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold," Apple said.

The Tame Apple Press has been reporting the case with a rather liberal use of the word "alleged" to describe Apple an Amazon's antics. Normally when one is found guilty, they stay guilty until an appeal rules them "not-guilty." But that rule does not seem to have been applied.