After winning the battle to require USB-C as a standard charger, EU is attacking more "gatekeepers" such as Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The Digital Market Law, referred to as DMA, came into effect on November 1, with a transition period of half a year and will be officially applied on May 2, 2023. Its goal is to ask companies such as Apple to provide alternatives that allow third-party app stores to be on their platforms and alternative payment systems.
helps EU official through DMA Gerard de Graaf expects it will affect about a dozen companies. "We expect the impact to be widespread," Degraf said. "If you have an iPhone 2, you should be able to download apps not only from the App Store, but also from other app stores or the Internet."
The official is now in talks with affected companies in the United States. "The key message is that the negotiations are over and we are in compliance," he said. "You may not like it, but that's the truth."
Tech companies don't need to comply with the law immediately. Instead, the EU first has to decide which companies are big enough and mature enough to be listed as "gatekeepers".
According to the European Parliament's regulations, gatekeepers must provide browsers, information service or social media, and there are at least 45 million end users per month in the EU. They must also have 10,000 annual business users with a market value of at least 75 billion 1 (82 billion US dollars), or an annual turnover of 7.5 billion euros (8.2 billion US dollars).
The EU will announce these companies in the spring of 2023, and they will have six months to comply with the law. Some terms of
DMA will force Apple to allow third-party app stores and sideload on iPhones, allowing developers to use third-party payment systems, allowing users to set voice assistants other than Siri to default values, and so on.
DMA will also prohibit developers from giving preferential treatment to their applications or products. In Apple's case, this could mean banning the company from highlighting its services on the App Store, such as Apple Music and Apple Mall.
In addition to this, the EU is preparing a bill similar to the DMA, called the Digital Services Act. On October 4, 2022, the European Council of approved the Digital Services Act Ordinance, which marks the final step in the legislative process of the DSA.
DSA pays more attention to online content and restraint, allowing online platforms and technology companies to assume more responsibilities and supervise content, including reporting and banning illegal content. The online marketplace will also be subject to new transparency rules, and the platform will be required to allow users to choose not to accept algorithm recommendations based on their history and information.
Since Apple does not make search engines or social media platforms, most of the core elements of its business model may remain unchanged under DSA rules. However, DSA is more likely to have a significant impact on companies like Meta and Google.
Companies that violate DSA rules may face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover.
