For many years now, smaller companies had a hard time competing with the massive tech giants owning the market, so the European lawmakers decided that it’s time for a change, and time to make it easier for small companies to grow.
On the November 1st, the new European Union law – called Digital Market Act (DMA) – came to life, forcing the leading firms such as Apple, Google and Meta to be more open and to let other companies connect with their products more easily. The DMA will bring major changes to what people can do with their devices when it comes to apps from different sources. The new director of the EU office in San Francisco, George de Graaf says “If you have an iPhone, you should be able to download apps not just from the App Store but from other app stores or from the internet”.
The general goal of the DMA is to define when a large online platfrom qualifies as a “gatekeeper” and take appropiate action. Big companies whose position can grant them the power of making their own rules, and thus creating a bottleneck in digital economy are qualified as such “gatekeepers”. To overcome this situation, the DMA defines a set of rules that these companies have to follow, or face being fined up to 10% of the company’s worlwide turnover or even 20% when it comes to reapeted violations.
What will be the actual benefits of the DMA? First of all, it will prevent big companies from favoring their own products and allow smaller companies to grow. It will eliminate unfair prevention of installing apps from other sources, thus allowing users for more variety. In addition, users will have an option to choose their default browser or the voice assistant of their choice. Additionaly, the gatekeepers will have to share the data that they have collected with other business users and they won’t be able to track consumer activity for targeted advertising without users’ consent.
The DMA moved into implementation phase now and it will start to apply in six months. The companies are expected to comply with the requirements in mid-2024
Personally, I think that the rules of DMA are a little bit harsh, big companies like Apple or Google worked for many years to achieve their success and it’s understandable that they want to show off their accomplishments. European Union wants to expand the market but giving away the data collected by gatekeepers and reducing their position on the market isn’t the right choice. My other concern would be the safety of our devices. For example, Apple for many years has been very active in monitoring the apps that are being uploaded to App Store, in contrary to Google Play, where you can find some apps that don’t look particularly safe.
Digital Markets Act summed up in a YouTube video:
References:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_6423
https://www.wired.com/story/europe-dma-prepares-to-rewrite-the-rules-of-the-internet/
https://www.vpngids.nl/privacy/wetgeving/digital-market-act/