ericthehalfbee

Data that leaves your iPhone doesn’t mean it’s being “collected” by Apple. The article even mentions services like Continuity that require data to be transferred so devices can work together.

Further, data that leaves your device and goes to Apple doesn’t mean it’s being abused (like used for targeted ads).

There’s also a huge difference between data going to a company like Apple and someone like Meta or Google who make 98/80% of their revenue from targeted ads. They need your data to survive. To Apple your data isn’t even pocket change.

"For years, Apple responded to competitive threats by imposing a series of 'Whack-A-Mole' contractual rules and restrictions that have allowed Apple to extract higher prices from consumers, impose higher fees on developers and creators, and to throttle competitive alternatives from rival technologies," the DOJ antitrust division chief Jonathan Kanter also said.

Doubtful.

I believe Apple has talked with Google and Microsoft in the past about possible partnerships (like all big companies do).

Then a few journalists looking for their next headline saw this and expanded it into an entire story that Apple has already signed a deal, Gemini will be in iOS 18, and Apple is going to abandon their AI efforts (like they abandoned their Apple Car) because they’re so far behind.

socalrey said:

Apple probably knew all along that they would have to acquiesce and give the dev account back. But at least now the EU is held as responsible as Epic since they publicly came to their rescue/defense. Seems a good strategy in keeping Epic accountable. 

This.

Where it really comes into play is Apple’s rule that they will approve/sign Apps for third party stores (with a few relaxed rules like not banning Apps with adult content). This provides a huge benefit to consumers in terms of security.

If the DMA tells Apple they don’t have the right to approve/sign Apps (for example, believing that idiot Sweeney that it’s an antitrust issue), then the EU would be responsible for the flood of malware and other Apps on third party stores without proper vetting,.

I think Apple is daring them to remove this rule.

gatorguy said:

ericthehalfbee said:

gatorguy said:

ericthehalfbee said:

eeks the EU has done nothing about this. I’ve seen no investigation or even a suggestion of one. Yet this Epic ban apparently needed to be looked at immediately by the EU?

The fact nothing has been done about Apple’s rules suggests that Apple is, in fact, in compliance with the DMA and these rules are staying.

It's only been two days, not weeks, since the EU DMA rules went into effect. The commission announced in advance that March 7th was the day that active examinations of the gatekeepers compliance would begin.

 I fully expect a few knocks on doors, and a bit of fine-tuning from the affected big techs, preferably without fines being the driving reason for the requisite changes.

That’s quite the spin. There’s no stipulation that says the EU has to wait until the DMA comes into effect before they investigate any potential issues. Especially with the complaints from Epic & Spotify.

If the EU fine tunes the DMA it exposes them as the utter incompetent and idiotic lawmakers they truly are.

Spin? Why would the EU Commission investigate any company's compliance with a law that wasn't yet in place? As of March 7th, it is. Prior to that, none of the gatekeepers were obligated by law to change anything, and they had right up to midnight (I assume) on the day of the deadline to make any last-second changes they believed were required before authorities were legally tasked with verifying. 

You can’t be this stupid.

They would investigate because Apple announced their rules 6 weeks early, giving them plenty of time to review them.

Much better to talk to Apple and fine tune the rules BEFORE the DMA goes into effect then to have a bunch companies build their new third party stores around Apple’s rules and then have to change them later on. This is a lot of wasted effort for everyone.

The EU could warn Apple of non-compliance and if nothing changes they could hit Apple hard on day one. Given the tone people like Breton have when talking about Apple, I’m convinced there’s nothing they’d like better than to hit Apple hard on day one.

I think they DID have this conversation since Apple made a few last-minute changes to the terms (like the credit requirement). Which I predict means the rest of their conditions will stay.