The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and What That Means to 'Smart' Phones
An outline of recent events
THERE is a new story about a person trying to live without a so-called "smartphone" for - gasp! - a whole week. Such devices do not permit software freedom, we've been reminded, not even the Android devices.
See also the Apple + DMA links in recent batches of Daily Links. For anyone who still thinks "smartphones" can be 'tamed' to act responsibly and respectfully...
To quote some portions from the past 3 weeks, this article says: "That’s not the biggest change that Google will have to make to comply with the DMA, which goes into effect on March 6th. The law also includes additional rules on interoperability and competition. For example, Google will no longer be able to treat its own services more favorably in Search’s ranking than other third-party services." Another one said "Microsoft argued that forcing it to provide users access to rival search engines would negatively impact Bing's value. The EU gave companies included in the gatekeeper list six months to comply with the DMA, warning them that there would be hefty fines and penalties if they failed to do so."
More recently (a week ago) the media said: "Under the DMA, the Commission also requires the gatekeepers to ensure their service is interoperable. To those unaware, interoperability alludes to a system's ability to work with or use the parts or equipment of another system."
Days ago "Apple and the DMA" was published to say: "After Apple’s actions take effect in a few weeks (due to a DMA-imposed deadline), non-EU web developers will be under pressure to make their websites work properly on any of multiple browsers from which EU-based users will be able to choose. The problem with that is: these devs will still be forced to use iOS browsers, or simulations thereof, that are actually just the WebKit-driven Safari under the hood; so how can they realistically account for the various differences that will almost certainly exist among all those different browsers?"
An Apple booster commented on that as follows: "Rovensky’s framing captures the dichotomy. Anti-big-business regulation and pro-consumer results often do go hand-in-hand, but the DMA exposes the fissures. I do not think the DMA is going to change much, if anything at all, for the better for iOS users in the E.U. (Or for non-iOS users in the EU, for that matter.) And much like the GDPR’s website cookie regulations, I think if it has any practical effect, it’ll be to make things worse for users. Whether these options are better for developers seems less clear."
A short time later someone said that "Apple’s DMA response exposes some hidden costs and upsets folks because they didn’t get what they expected".
A pro-Apple site then published a story entitled " Understanding Apple’s Response to the DMA," saying that "the changes announced are carefully tailored to address the DMA and nothing more. These aren’t product announcements. They’re regulatory compliance responses by a company that has made clear in various contexts that it will respect local law that impacts its products, but isn’t interested in letting one country (or countries in this case) dictate how it designs its products. I’ll revisit this point at the end of this story, but it’s important to keep in mind from the outset. Once you view the details through this prism, you can see the shape of the DMA in every facet of what Apple announced, which makes the situation easier to understand."
Further, from the same day: "Ahead of a March deadline for companies including Apple and Google to comply with the entirety of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Spotify last week revealed plans for a revamped app experience in Europe. Now, to the streaming giant’s apparent dismay, Apple has unveiled its “new business terms for apps in the EU” – including a flat-rate fee for installs. [...] “From the beginning, Apple has been clear that they didn’t like the idea of abiding by the DMA. So they’ve formulated an undesirable alternative to the status quo,” the music streaming giant said on Friday."
Here's another take. "John Voorhees has a great walk-through of the changes Apple is making in response to the DMA: [...]"
A finally, another take: "One thing that has been surprisingly absent in the DMA discussion is what the changes mean for iPhones in business and education. I presume that Apple will deliver this in an MDM option to disallow apps from other app stores and one for setting the default browser. Even without that, iOS already sandboxes work apps and data. I’m assuming that there will be no support or controls for licensing and installing non-App Store apps (with the existing exception of enterprise apps). I’m patting myself on the back a little for having pretty accurately predicted how some this would work last year."
These things are more like toy stores than actual computers. Why put up with it? This is bad not only for users but also for developers.
Go out there and enjoy the real world, or real computers. Why are so many people spending so many hours on worthless gadgets and skinnerboxes that harm/manipulate them? █
