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."
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.
Seen in that light, it’s no surprise that Big Tech is refusing to comply with the rules. If the EU successfully forces tech to play fair, it will serve as a starting gun for a global race to the top, in which tech’s ill-gotten gains - of data, power and money - will be returned to the users and workers from whom that treasure came.
The architects of the DMA and DSA foresaw this, of course. They’ve announced investigations into Apple, Google and Meta, threatening fines of 10 percent of the companies’ global income, which will double to 20 percent if the companies don’t toe the line.
It’s not just Big Tech that’s playing for all the marbles - it’s also the systems of democratic control and accountability. If Apple can sabotage the DMA’s insistence on taking away its veto over its customers’ software choices, that will spill over into the US Department of Justice’s case over the same issue, as well as the cases in Japan and South Korea, and the pending enforcement action in the UK."
"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."
#EU#DMA#BigTech#Regulation#Antitrust: "The DMA is a first, and a great deal of earnest effort is going into its implementation. But we don’t know what “success” will look like, even on its own terms. Of course, even a limited set of improvements would be better than the status quo. Godspeed, but let’s be realistic also. The more fundamental point is that the real interesting question is not if we can nibble the gatekeepers at the margin: but whether we can disintermediate them at least in part so that we do not need to rely entirely on a proprietary Web 2.0 that they comprehensively control. Antitrust complaints in the US have at least some prospect of involving divestments and break ups as the eventual remedy – though this will also be a long and inevitably hard fought road. This is not on the cards in Europe through digital markets regulation."
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
RT @1Br0wn
“Apple could offer a more comprehensive service (than ChatGPT/Claude apps) by embedding a third-party AI assistant in its operating system.” << But thanks to the #DMA, so can competitors (in the EU) https://ft.com/content/9528edd3-f963-4694-b28a-8584f1378278
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?
I’ll speak about theory and practice of Digital Markets act. And implications for cybersecurity, privacy, competition. Bonus points: information about one actual case in which I was involved. It considers something that all of you use each and every day :-)
"It’s not just Big Tech that’s playing for all the marbles - it’s also the systems of democratic control and accountability. If Apple can sabotage the DMA’s insistence on taking away its veto over its customers’ software choices, that will spill over into the US Department of Justice’s case over the same issue, as well as the cases in Japan and South Korea."