EU tells Apple to open everything up to its rivals
European Commissioner Thierry Breton says the Digital Markets Act is just a beginning, and Apple must open up its whole ecosystem to competitors.
The EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) was created to target Big Tech firms like Apple, and make a fairer business environment for all comers. The DMA became law in the EU in November 2022, and became applicable from May 2023, though it is still in the process of being implemented.
According to Reuters, Thierry Breton has now called on Apple to open up its hardware and software ecosystem.
"The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA is to open up its gates to competitors," he said. "Be it the electronic wallet, browsers or app stores, consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers."
Breton said this after meeting with Tim Cook in Brussels, where the Apple CEO is certain to have reiterated the company's arguments about security and privacy.
"EU regulation fosters innovation, without compromising on security and privacy," Breton told Reuters.
Apple has not commented. Cook's trip to Brussels was not announced, and he hasn't referred to his meeting with the EU Commissioner. However, he has tweeted about meeting with Apple Store staff in the city.
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Comments
What a f****** joke
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mind you, the EU is shooting itself in the foot with these new border controls (to get into a Schengen Country). Big Brother is watching you all the time that you are inside the zone.
I predict a huge drop in travel into the Schengen area in 2024 and the EU will be to blame for that.
This is because what the EU and others are ignoring is that consumer choice starts with the choice of device and operating system. You want to be able to purchase apps directly from their developers? There are already scads of device options for that.
It’s time for those do nothings in Washington DC to earn their pay.
Europe just represents about 19% of Apples total revenue, and when compared to other parts of the world, it’s falling, Apples revenue in Europe is about the same as the entire country of Japan.
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/app-revenues/. Select Chart App revenue by region
Make no mistake; the politicians promoting this for their intelligence- and commercial overlords know exactly what they are doing and they know they will get away with it as long as they keep hammering on about children's safety and freedom of choice for consumers.
Of course consumers already have freedom of choice, they can choose the platforms they like best. And the kiddie porn users will simply continue to set up their own walled gardens, independent of what the platforms have to offer. The politicians of course know all this, but it is of no consequence to them.
As a consumer I have exercised my freedom of choice and explicitly chosen the facilities and security of the Apple ecosystem. The politicians are explicitly trying to take that freedom of choice away from me.
ALSO: Have you seen the shit the British government just tried to pull on end-to-end-encrypted messengers? Screw interoperability — they tried to force all operators to BREAK encryption. Thankfully, they backed down after it became clear that all messengers would have to pull out of Britain, or compromise encryption globally. The EU toyed with that, as did the USA, but it never left the idea phase.
Post-Brexit Britain actually wrote it into law and tried to pass it.