EU Approves Landmark Legislation to Regulate Apple and Other Big Tech Firms

[jimbobb24]

More options leads to no more options how?

I want an option that my phone is closed and just as it is now? I can no longer have that so I have less options. After regulation there are fewer options almost by definition.

 

[sorgo †]

I wish Americans would stop whining about the EU. You’re not in the EU so why do you care?

And I wish EU bureaucrats would stop whining and bitching and pissing and moaning about an American company and worry about their already-heaping plates.

 

[groove-agent]

I feel this will only benefit other companies trying to get a slice of Apple’s money. It would turn iOS into a dog’s breakfast. I’d like to see tech giants withdraw from the EU and then watch the citizens of the EU cry about it and lean on the government to bring them back.

 

[Xiaojohn]

I feel this will only benefit other companies trying to get a slice of Apple’s money. It would turn iOS into a dog’s breakfast. I’d like to see tech giants withdraw from the EU and then watch the citizens of the EU cry about it and lean on the government to bring them back.

most of the EU citizen use Andriod phone, but not iPhone.....indeed they think differently and they have different lifestyle and logic thinking

 

[Xiaojohn]

After I read their news release, I think EU is quite a hard seller....keep promoting the ACT to their people, while it didn't solved any problems at the end of the day.

No wonder EU will lost to China in terms of Economics.
TESLA try to build the GigaFactory in Berlin also have the same illogical obstacles....

Commission welcomes European Parliament´s adoption of Digital Services Package

The Digital Services Package sets out a first comprehensive rulebook for the online platforms that we all depend on in our daily lives.

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu

 

[droplink]

What does an “idea” about a law have to do with the actual result of a law. Negative unforeseen disastrous unintended consequences are the norm
with this type of sweeping regulation not the exception.

Because.

Because, there is nothing there to state that the OS must automatically allow an app access.
Your iPhone always asks you if you want an app to be allowed access to your photos, your microphone etc. nothing here states that the OS must not do that.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

While I do get what the EU is going at with this and agree that most of it is necessary for fairness, I don't see how this is fair for all parties involved unless there's an option for consumers to opt in to the "gate kept" version of Apple's software that we have now.

A lot of these regulations would enforce a scenario where Apple at the very least has to present the user with multiple choices at every step of setting up and using the device which would over complicate and confuse.

 

[webkit]

Hmmm.... I wonder if that would work?

I know some car manufacturers can't bring certain world models to the US because of strict US auto regulations...

Could Apple make a special EU iPhone?

EU-specific iPhones would work at least until the U.S. or other countries/regions decided to enforce similar regulations.

 

[ashdelacroix]

Why the hell would anyone invest in an EU country more than they absolutely need to? I agree with some of the legislation, but actually it goes way, way too far. Under such legislation, the free market is dead in the EU: companies will need to conform to an ideological set of rules, subject to scrutiny by the EU Commission, which, to people outside Europe, is merely a very large, unelected organisation of bureaucrats and civil servants. I suggest Apple and others will want to have a more and more of a "firewall" between their EU business and their rest-of-world business. Apple does operate various legal entities in different parts of the world in any case, but this may need to be strengthened.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple is almost certain to be classified as a "gatekeeper" due to the size

Nope, not due to it’s size, as size would be defined by a numerical value and the numerical size of the market doesn’t factor into the EU’s regulation… or so I’m told.

 

[webkit]

Another example of Tim Cook's failure of leadership and lack of foresight. It was clear where this was headed years ago.

Instead of playing along and offering some concessions, he refused, kept telling countries their rules didn't matter, preferred to pay fines, and now they slap Apple with something this broad. Its his own fault. Most users who were demanding some things open up were asking for reasonable things. And now he's going to have a gigantic patchwork of laws around the world as a result of this that Apple has to comply with.

It's not just Cook/Apple, it's others like Google too. They've all tried to resist and fight various regulations over the years. Perhaps Apple more than others due to its more restrictive "walled garden" but much of big tech have had issues with regulators one way or another.

 

[webkit]

So the same rules should be applicable in each industry in EU:
1. Medicine
2. Car manufacturers
3. Education
4. Work
5. Providers

Consumers should be given a total freedom in each department. Otherwise no consistency.
It’s biased from EU towards US, period!

Create your own product, promote it, expand it. That’s free market.

If other industries are mostly controlled by dominant companies, yes. The problem with big tech is that for better or worse, various segments are often controlled by two or three major players e.g., mobile OS (Android and iOS have nearly 100% share), desktop/laptop OS (Windows and OS X have around 91% share), browsers (Chrome and Safari have around 84% share), etc.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The DMA says that gatekeepers who ignore the rules will face fines of up to 10 percent of the company's total worldwide annual turnover, or 20 percent in the event of repeated infringements, as well as periodic penalties of up to 5 percent of the company's total worldwide annual turnover.

Looks like operating in the EU is becoming a lot more expensive for Apple. What’s the EU’s current percentage of Apple’s profits? Something around 20%? And, this regulation would essentially turn that to zero. The EU would go from being number three (behind China) to behind the Asia/Pacific market. The EU already provides the worst margin, it’ll just go to worser-er.

 

[Michael Scrip]

A lot of these regulations would enforce a scenario where Apple at the very least has to present the user with multiple choices at every step of setting up and using the device which would over complicate and confuse.

Remember the "browser ballot" on Microsoft Windows in the EU?

Get ready for another "browser ballot" on the iPhone in the EU!

And an "email ballot" (gotta be fair to GMail, ProtonMail, and FastMail)

And a "voice assistant ballot" (gotta be fair to Alexa and Google Assistant)

And a "cloud backup ballot" (gotta be fair to Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive)

And a "streaming music ballot" (gotta be fair to Spotify and Tidal)

And a "streaming video ballot" (gotta be fair to Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max)

Fun times ahead!

🤣

 

[Wildkraut]

What a great day! 🤣❤️
Looking forward to sideload…

iPhone 15 will be best iPhone ever released, USB-C and sideloading… 😘

Told ya it’s coming… Tim‘s lobbying and security by obscurity public preachments didn’t work out…👌 It’s about time to end customer bondage.

To the ones saying Apple should leave the EU 🤣, the same will come to the US, stay tuned you heard it here first.

I already can see Apple trying to sell this as if they invented it.

 

[nvmls]

Don't cry people, eventually it'll pass, stay strong!

 

[Isengardtom]

And I wish EU bureaucrats would stop whining and bitching and pissing and moaning about an American company and worry about their already-heaping plates.

That American company sells on the EU market. That means the EU should have a say in those companies interacting with its consumers, just as I would expect Americans to do the same with a company that sells on the US market.

 

[PrecisionGem]

If the cost to apple to comply with these regulations is close to the revenue, I can see apple exiting the EU and let the citizens use android.

Agree. With my small business I won't sell into the EU, it's not worth the aggravation and obstacles.

 

[darngooddesign]

This is being pushed by Android users who don't want to be seen as green iMessage bubbles. 🤣

 

[Wildkraut]

Remember the "browser ballot" on Microsoft Windows in the EU?

Get ready for another "browser ballot" on the iPhone in the EU!

And an "email ballot" (gotta be fair to GMail, ProtonMail, and FastMail)

And a "voice assistant ballot" (gotta be fair to Alexa and Google Assistant)

And a "cloud backup ballot" (gotta be fair to Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive)

And a "streaming music ballot" (gotta be fair to Spotify and Tidal)

And a "streaming video ballot" (gotta be fair to Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max)

Fun times ahead!

🤣

The iOS initial setup is already full of ballots, 2-3 more won’t make it worse than it already is.

 

[Michael Scrip]

It’s about time to end customer slavery.

I get what you're saying... but that's just a horrible choice of words.

Slavery is a real thing in this world.

But no one forces you to buy an iPhone.

In fact... most people don't buy iPhones... ever hear of Android? 8 out of 10 smartphones sold in the world are Android. We get it. Android won.

But now you want the iPhone to be another Android clone.

Great....

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

no way for that....maybe APPLE should split the business:

1. select your hardware - iPhone 14 w/A16 chip = $999
2. select your ROM - 512 GB = $ 400
3. select your RAM - 512 GB = $ 400
4. select your OS - Microsoft = $300; Google Andriod = $ 300; iOS = $300; Huawei = $150

Yeah! Consumers won and saved money. fair play.

Apple's iOS business model relies too much on AppStore revenue for this to be feasible for Apple.

Having iPhones running Android, Microsoft, etc., would also greatly diminish the brand identity and value of iPhones as they would essentially just be nothing more than another, non-Apple smartphone.

And thus, this will never happen.

-Apple will terminate all sales of its products in the EU before making jail-breaking iPhones legal which is really what it comes down to.

 

[Wildkraut]

I can see Tim 😭 at the corner of his glas office with fog up window, holding his 🧸 and eating a big pot of chocolate ice cream.

 

[atoqir]

Great decision

The only one really hurt by this will be Apple.

Microsoft, Google, Samsung already are way more open for years and they already comply with all of this today.

Also keep in mind that all these things are OPTIONAL.

If you want to keep using default iOS apps, default AppStore, default browser nothing really changes for you with this regulation. Only for the people and other developers wanting to use these things there will be a benefit.

Also congrats to Tim Sweeny. He beat the other Tim, without realizing it lol

 

[cics]

It all depends on implementation. The functionality of some messaging apps is very different than others. Then there's the possibility of duplicate accounts and security. And what is considered a messaging app? Would Instagram or Twitter be included as well?

All messaging app based on phone numbers: telegram, messages, whatsapp, signal...