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Tag: Digital Markets Act

  • Microsoft May Launch Mobile Game Store Next Year

    Microsoft May Launch Mobile Game Store Next Year

    Microsoft may launch a mobile game store next year in one of its most ambitious attempts to take on Apple and Google.

    In an interview with Financial Times, via CNET, CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer said the decision is contingent on the company’s Activision Blizzard acquisition being approved.

    “We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play,” Spencer told said. “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”

    Microsoft plans appear to line up with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will require Apple and Google to allow third-party app stores on their platforms. Once the legislation goes into effect in March 2024, Microsoft will be able to compete on far more level ground.

  • Senator Mark Warner Wants to ‘Restart Antitrust’ Legislation

    Senator Mark Warner Wants to ‘Restart Antitrust’ Legislation

    After a contentious start for the new Congress, Senator Mark Warner is ready to “restart antitrust” legislation.

    The US has been increasingly trying to reign in Big Tech’s influence and power, but efforts have largely stalled. Senator Warner is determined to get the process going again.

    “Let’s restart antitrust,” Warner (D., Va.) told MarketWatch on Monday. “Lessons were learned [in 2022] and we can break through with kids legislation. Can’t we at least agree on kids safety?”

    In particular, Senator Warner wants to take aim at Section 230, the legislation that protects online platforms from legal liability resulting from the speech or actions of their users.

    “Section 230 has been this vast, get-out-of-jail free card,” Warner said,

    Warner also indicated improved interoperability between online platforms could be a main goal, as well preventing Big Tech companies from preferring their own products and services over those of competitors.

    The EU has already unveiled its Digital Markets Act (DMA) that achieves much of what Warner hopes to. Only time will tell if the US can pass similar legislation.

  • The Walled Garden Cracks: Apple to Allow Third-Party App Stores

    The Walled Garden Cracks: Apple to Allow Third-Party App Stores

    Apple’s walled garden is finally beginning to open, with the company preparing to allow third-party app stores to comply with EU legislation.

    Apple famously maintains control of its iOS ecosystem, forcing developers to use its App Store as the primary means of distributing apps. Despite attempts to force Apple to allow third-party app stores, or other means of side-loading apps, the company has so far refused to bow to the pressure.

    A new report by Bloomberg, however, indicates the EU’s latest regulation may finally force the company to open up. Apple’s software engineers are reportedly already at work trying to make the necessary changes to iOS in time for the 2024 deadline.

    The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is one of the most comprehensive attempts to reign in Big Tech’s power and influence. The bill is aimed at “gatekeeper” companies that control entire platforms, putting Apple and Google squarely in the crosshairs.

    The DMA is designed to level the playing field for smaller companies, preventing gatekeepers from preferring their own apps and services over third-party options. The DMA would also force platforms to ensure their services, such as messaging services, “open up and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms, if they so request.”

    While the DMA only impacts the EU, it’s only a matter of time before other jurisdictions follow the EU’s playbook and pass similar regulation. As a result, the DMA represents the first crack in Apple’s walled garden, a crack that will likely bust it wide open.

  • Apple Could Be Forced to Tear Down Its Walled Garden

    Apple Could Be Forced to Tear Down Its Walled Garden

    The European Union (EU) has passed legislation that could be the single biggest threat to Apple’s walled garden.

    The EU approved the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in March 2022, legislation that is aimed at so-called “gatekeeper” companies. Gatekeepers are companies that run a “platform,” have at least 45,000 active users, and a market cap of at least $82 billion.

    The DMA’s goal is to prevent gatekeeper companies from preferring their own apps or services over those of competitors. In addition, the legislation would ensure users could choose the default apps of their choice.

    The DMA went into effect Tuesday and could completely upend how Apple does business. According to MacRumors, the DMA could force Apple to allow third-party app stores, allow users to sideload apps, and even make iMessage compatible with other messaging services.

    Although the DMA went into effect Tuesday, there are several implementation steps before companies are required to comply. Once the various steps are taken, companies impacted by the DMA will be required to comply by March 6, 2024, at the latest.

    While the legislation promises to address many of the inequities with Big Tech, experts worry that it may cause as many problems as it solves. In particular, the requirement that companies make their messaging apps interoperable with competing services could open a Pandora’s Box of problems.

    Because many messaging services use end-to-end encryption (E2EE), exports worry that the DMA will force companies to weaken, or outright break, encryption in an effort to pass messages from one service or another. There is also the possibility that companies may simply decide it is too difficult to maintain cross-platform encryption and abandon it altogether.

    There are still many unanswered questions about how the DMA will operate, including whether it will hold up to legal challenges. In our previous coverage, we quoted a Facebook engineer’s statement to The Verge regarding the issues the DMA raises:

    “If you went into a McDonald’s and said, ‘In the interest of breaking corporate monopolies, I demand that you include a sushi platter from some other restaurant with my order,’ they would rightly just stare at you,” Alec Muffett, former Facebook engineer and internet security expert, said. “What happens when the requested sushi arrives by courier at McDonald’s from the ostensibly requested sushi restaurant? Can and should McDonald’s serve that sushi to the customer? Was the courier legitimate? Was it prepared safely?”

  • US May Follow EU in Crackdown on Gatekeeper Tech Companies

    US May Follow EU in Crackdown on Gatekeeper Tech Companies

    The US may soon follow the EU in cracking down on gatekeeper companies, as governments become increasingly wary of Big Tech.

    The EU introduced the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in late March, its most comprehensive attempt to rein in Big Tech’s power. Gatekeeper companies — companies that run a “platform,” have a market cap of at least $82 billion, and at least 45,000 active users — are especially addressed by the DMA. For example, the DMA would require messaging platforms to open up and work with smaller competitors, and could even force companies to break up if they fail to comply with the legislation’s terms.

    Despite many concerns about the DMA’s implications, especially in the realm of security, the US may be preparing to follow the EU’s example, according to Bloomberg, especially when it comes to mergers and acquisitions.

    “The plain text of our merger laws in the United States demand that we have aggressive enforcement against acquisitions by firms that already possess a dominant position,” said Jonathan Kanter, head of the DOJ’s antitrust division.

    It remains to be seen if the US will follow through, especially given the fact it tends to be more lenient on corporations than the EU. It is also unclear how far the US may emulate the DMA, and whether it would also press for interoperability clauses.

  • Experts Warn the EU’s DMA Will Break Encryption

    Experts Warn the EU’s DMA Will Break Encryption

    Another day, another attack on encryption, with security experts warning the EU’s DMA legislation will likely break, or severely weaken, encryption.

    The EU unveiled the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as its latest effort to crack down on Big Tech. In addition to severe fines, and even possible breakups, of companies that fail to abide by the legislation, the DMA calls for “gatekeeper companies” to make their services interoperable with smaller rivals.

    Messaging, in particular, is one of the most obvious areas impacted by this clause, with services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple’s iMessage likely forced to open up and work with competitors. Unfortunately, since all of these services provide end-to-end encryption (E2EE), experts warn there is no easy way for the the services to work with each and still maintain the level of security and privacy they currently offer.

    In speaking with The Verge, one expert used a very low-tech example to illustrate the issues, especially with compatibility and accountability between various services.

    “If you went into a McDonald’s and said, ‘In the interest of breaking corporate monopolies, I demand that you include a sushi platter from some other restaurant with my order,’ they would rightly just stare at you,” Alec Muffett, former Facebook engineer and internet security expert, said. “What happens when the requested sushi arrives by courier at McDonald’s from the ostensibly requested sushi restaurant? Can and should McDonald’s serve that sushi to the customer? Was the courier legitimate? Was it prepared safely?”

    Similar questions plague potential implementation of the DMA. How will messages be securely sent across various platforms? If two different services use two different types of encryption, which company will modify its service to be compatible with the other? Will services opt to simply drop encryption when sending messages across services? Or will companies adopt some method of decrypting and re-encrypting as the message is passed from one service to another, making the communication vulnerable to interception, and thereby compromising privacy and security?

    Unfortunately, as has been stated time and time again, the encryption protocols people, companies, and governments rely on for privacy and security are not created, managed, or dictated by policies. They are, instead, bound and constrained by basic mathematics.

    Unfortunately for privacy and security, the mathematics of the DMA don’t quite add up.

  • EU Prepares to Crack Down on Big Tech, Unveils Sweeping Measures

    EU Prepares to Crack Down on Big Tech, Unveils Sweeping Measures

    The European Union has unveiled sweeping measures to crack down on Big Tech and increase competition across the industry.

    The EU has unveiled the Digital Markets Act (DMA), aimed specifically at “gatekeeper” companies, according to The Verge. Gatekeepers are companies with a market cap of at least $82 billion, at least 45,000 active users, and that run a “platform.” Such criteria would cover Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, but could also cover smaller companies and services as well.

    Messaging, in particular, is a likely focus of the DMA, with the EU looking to force services like Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and WhatsApp to “open up and interoperate with smaller messaging platforms, if they so request.”

    The DMA would include a number of other provisions, including stopping gatekeepers from preferring their own apps and services, as well as giving users the ability to uninstall default apps that come on their devices, and even choose which apps they want to use during install and setup.

    Companies that sell or do business on a given platform would be entitled to access performance metrics from that platform. Similarly, companies that advertise on a platform would be given a way to independently confirm the performance of their advertising efforts.

    The penalties for failure to comply would be severe, including up to 10% of a company’s annual worldwide revenue and periodic penalties up to 5% of its daily earnings. Most notably, the EU would also have the authority to enforce “behavioral and structural remedies.” This could including mandating that a company change how it operates its platform or service, and could even include forcing a company to spin off portions of its business, if the anti-competitive concerns cannot otherwise be addressed.

    This is why, in the Digital Markets Act, there is a full toolbox where the sanctions become more and more severe,” the EU’s Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager told The Verge. “The fines will increase if you do not implement changes. Eventually, in the toolbox, there’s also the tool that you can actually break up a company if no change is happening, or if you are a repeat offender.”

    The DMA represents the single largest effort by the EU to reign in the power and influence of Big Tech, combining a number of different efforts into one comprehensive piece of legislation. The legislation has not passed yet but, given the momentum that’s been building in the EU, it’s almost certainly going to pass sooner rather than later.