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The European Commission is investigating whether Alphabet, Apple and Meta are complying with the provisions of the DMA. The Commission has concrete suspicions about missed obligations by the
The European Commission is investigating whether Alphabet, Apple and Meta are complying with the provisions of the DMA. The Commission has concrete suspicions about missed obligations by the three giants.
The European Commission has opened an investigation into Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act. With the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Europe has a law that allows internet giants to comply with rules for fair competition. Among many other provisions, the DMA contains provisions about how a company must respect users’ choices, not unknowingly push them in one direction or use its dominance to favor its own services. The three parties do not adhere to the rules, even though they have been officially in force since March 7th after months of warning.
Alphabet and Apple could be guilty of two violations. The committee primarily examines whether the Google parent company and the iPhone specialist are adhering to the rules steering respect. The two sites should allow developers to direct customers to solutions outside the App Store through their apps without owing money to Google or Apple. However, both parties, which are responsible for Android and iOS, still impose many restrictions.
Alphabet would continue to abuse its Google search engine to favor its own services such as Google Shopping and Google Flights. However, the DMA stipulates that Google as a so-called usher may not discriminate against third parties.
Apple, in turn, has a hard time with its users’ choices, so it’s more convenient not to let them choose. If you simply want to remove certain applications from iOS or adjust settings, you cannot do this. The browser selection screen is the focus here.
On the sidelines, the EU continues to pay attention to Apple’s new payment structure and the conditions for third-party app stores. However, concrete investigations into this have not yet been started.
Finally, the commission deals with meta. “Agree to the terms and conditions or pay us money every month” doesn’t seem to be a valid strategy. Meta has introduced an expensive subscription formula for users who do not consent to certain uses of their data. It is not possible to deregister without a credit card. The EU argues that there is no real alternative to the imposed requirements.
Not everything is in order with Facebook Messenger, but Meta has submitted a reasoned request to postpone an agreement with the DMA for this specific case and the Commission has accepted it.
The commission says it is also keeping an eye on Amazon. The EU wonders whether the online shop does not give preferential treatment to its own products. A formal investigation has not yet begun here.
All companies involved must retain documents that may be relevant to the investigation. The European Commission has announced that it wants to complete the investigation within twelve months. The gatekeepers are then told what the committee expects of them. In the case of clear violations, the EU can impose fines worth billions of ten percent of the total global annual turnover for a first violation. The EU does not shy away from such fines and at the beginning of March slapped Apple with a bill of 1.8 billion euros for anti-competitive behavior.
Source: IT Daily
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