In case you missed it: After #GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), after the #DMA (Digital Markets Act), after the #CRA (Cyber Resiliency Act), The EU continues to lead the way with the #AiAct. None of these regulations are perfect. Many will argue they are not even Good Enough(tm). And I agree in parts. But in general I applaud the #EU for not shying away from regulations that are (IMHO) needed. So I once again say #ThanksEU and now the hard work to make these regulation better starts :)
Abuse of the #DMA’s ‘#gatekeeper’ concept: "The 🇪🇺 Commission set a dangerous precedent with the #DataAct, which now risks spilling over into other regulations – such as new rules on financial data access #FiDA."
"Just like Apple, Meta is behaving as though the #DMA permits it to carry on its worst behavior, with minor cosmetic tweaks around the margins. Just like #Apple, #Meta is daring the #EU to enforce its democratically enacted laws, implicitly promising to pit its billions against #Europe’s institutions to preserve its right to spy on us."
We have introduced new whistleblower tools to help employees and other insiders report harmful practices of Very Large Online Platforms or Search Engines under the DSA and violations of obligations by gatekeepers under the DMA.
These tools are empowering whistleblowers to share relevant information anonymously, in any EU official language and format, from reports to data metrics and internal research.
People should think about what Apple’s boundary conditions for the #CTF mean. If Apple is willing to hold off on charging a fee for three years, it probably means that most small development businesses on the AppStore don’t see a profit for three years. Apple knows how long it takes for devs to get from sign up to ship, and they know how long it takes to get from shipping to decent revenue. It’d be naive to think they don’t use that information. #DMA
Now that Apple is forced to open their mobile operating systems for third party devs in an unprecedented manner, can we work on an indie foss podcatcher that does not suck?
Are you aware of harmful practices by companies under the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act?
We've launched whistleblower tools to report violations of obligations by Very Large Online Platforms, Search Engines and gatekeepers under the #DSA and #DMA.
The EU declares Apple's iPadOS as a 'gatekeeper' due to its vast app ecosystem, locking in businesses like yours or users like you.
The European Union's designation of Apple's iPadOS as a "gatekeeper" signals a significant win for small businesses and startup owners in fostering a fair digital marketplace.
This move further underscores the EU's commitment to regulating tech giants such as Apple and gives smaller businesses the opportunity to thrive and innovate.
Apple must now comply with the DMA within 6 months. Our CEO, @jon, welcomes this, noting that iPads and iPhones share the same ecosystem and that Apple controls both as the gatekeeper.
🔴 We designated Apple’s iPadOS as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act.
Our investigation shows that its tablet operating system is an important gateway for businesses to reach consumers due to its large and commercially attractive user base and its importance for specific use cases.
We also discovered that Apple leverages its large ecosystem to disincentivise end users from switching to other tablet operating systems.
We will keep monitoring #DMA compliance very closely.
You have to analyse every Apple announcement through the lens of how it will use it to maintain its market power and attack regulation. So, will Apple’s promised Rich Communication Services (RCS) support make iMessage fully interoperable at least with Google’s Messages? What would the most grudging compliance with Chinese 5G regulations look like?
Google apparently makes RCS support ubiquitous regardless of carrier support (via IP), as well as using a specific telco gateway. Will Apple do the same, or push individual telcos to enable RCS support on their networks? (Many already do.)
Apple won’t support Google’s end-to-end encryption extension but instead work to standardise it in RCS. How long will that take?
Trade body GSMA is responsible for the RCS standard. Telcos in the past, unlike Internet developers, have been most open to developing backdoored encryption standards for mobile communications. Will Google and Apple be able to override this here?
I haven’t tried digging out a good translation of the relevant Chinese 5G regulations, but they are allegedly the source of Apple’s change of mind on RCS support. Supporting it within a single country of course does not mean support anywhere else in the world. Many (most?) of the DMA gatekeepers are trying to limit DMA benefits to their EU users (and in Apple’s case withdrawing them once a user leaves the EU for 30 days!)
I was excited by the #Europe#DMA news back in March, when will we finally be able to communicate with #WhatsApp users from other platforms like #Matrix ?
The Commission said both business and end users are “locked-in” to #Apple’s #iPadOS ecosystem due to its size and user base, which it said the company leverages to disincentivize users from switching to competitors, giving Apple six months to ensure full compliance. #DMA
Nice! @brave for iOS just got updated to support the new "marketplace-kit" scheme. Brave only calls the scheme when trackers blocking is disabled. As we reported earlier, Apple implemented the new scheme in a way that allows tracking across websites based on the unique client_id.
Now users in the EU can use Brave to safely install alternative marketplaces. We would like to thank Brave for considering our advice about potential #tracking.
Wczoraj dowiedzieliśmy się, że Spotify zdecydowało się zrezygnować z nowych warunków UE wprowadzonych, a wcześniej zinterpretowanych, przez Apple. Te pozwoliłyby Spotify na korzystanie z alternatywnych metod płatności ze względu na Core Technology Fee. Zamiast firma przesłała aktualizację aplikacji z informacjami o cenach i szczegółami dotyczącymi subskrypcji poza App Store, bez podawania użytkownikom linku. Apple zareagowało momentalnie.
Spotify twierdzi, że Apple niesłusznie zablokowało aktualizację i ponownie „sprzeciwiło się Komisji Europejskiej”.
Apple udzieliło komentarza serwisowi 9to5Mac, pisząc, że Spotify musi korzystać z uprawnień EOG do usług strumieniowego przesyłania muzyki, aby uwzględnić tzw. CTA (wezwanie do działania) w celu zakupu poza App Store.
Spotify powtórzyło wczoraj swoje przekonanie, że Apple dąży do „ukarania deweloperów nowymi opłatami” w ramach swoich zasad korzystania z alternatywnej metody płatności w UE. Dlatego gigant muzyczny zdecydował się przesłać aktualizację i pozostać przy starszym systemie App Store.
Apple nie zatwierdziło aktualizacji ze względu na to, że Spotify zawierało informacje o cenie i instrukcje, jak zarejestrować się poza App Store i twierdząc, że będzie musiało zażądać uprawnienia i zapłacić Apple 27% prowizji.
Rzecznik Spotify także podzielił się tym oświadczeniem z 9to5Mac:
Apple po raz kolejny sprzeciwiło się decyzji Komisji Europejskiej, odrzucając naszą aktualizację za próbę komunikowania się z klientami na temat naszych cen, chyba że zapłacimy Apple nowy podatek. Ich lekceważeniu konsumentów i deweloperów dorównuje jedynie pogarda dla prawa.
Dla przypomnienia, w zeszłym miesiącu Apple zostało ukarane grzywną w wysokości 2 mld USD „nadużywanie” zasad App Store dla usług MOD (Music on demand). Wraz z grzywną Komisja Europejska stwierdziła również, że Apple musi złagodzić swoje zasady przeciwdziałania sterowaniu. Apple odrzuciło jednak to orzeczenie i odwołuje się od niego.