136
EU unveils ‘revolutionary’ laws to curb big tech firms’ power - The Guardian
(www.theguardian.com)
Amazing
this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023
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Technology
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Here's hoping these get past the lobbying phase and into laws with actual penilties for companies who violate this.
It already got past. Now they are appointing the gatekeepers who fall under it.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The package of laws will also pave the way for more competition in some of the areas most closely guarded by the tech firms, including Apple Wallet and Google Pay.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA), the second big package of EU laws to hit tech firms in two months, defines a series of obligations that gatekeepers need to comply with, including not engaging in anti-competitive practices.
The DMA aims to undo the gatekeeper or controlling position that large tech companies have commanded in the last 10 years and gives the European Commission the power to conduct market investigations and design remedies if the firms fall out of line.
The tech companies – including Apple, Google and Amazon – have six months to comply with a full list of dos and don’ts under the new laws, after which they could be fined up to 10% of their turnover.
The laws will initially apply to six companies: Alphabet (which owns Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (the owner of TikTok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) and Microsoft.
He described the DMA as an “important milestone” that would put consumers and concerned parents back in the driving seat, guarding against abuse and endless hours of content aimed at children on the likes of TikTok.
The original article contains 692 words, the summary contains 209 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
The tech companies – including Apple, Google and Amazon – have six months to comply with a full list of dos and don’ts under the new laws, after which they could be fined up to 10% of their turnover.
Six months seems extremely unrealistic.
That 6 month deadline should give them plenty of time to do the stuff without giving them time to come up with ways to avoid it.
It would give them time to stop offering services and degrade a few since competitors are under the same pressure.
This act has been in the making for quite a while, and was even delayed. These companies have had plenty of time to prepare for what's coming.
Also, big companies don't deserve whining. It's hard to adjust to new regulations? Too fucking bad! Now pay your fine
Is there a place where is explained what is exactly in the DMA (and DSA). I did find this video (be it quite high-level) interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y8BYI422NU&pp=ygURZHNhIGRtYSBleHBsYWluZWQ%3D
I have been wondering about this. Could the DMA (or DSA) be used to force google/youtube to allow users to disable the "this video might also interest you" (or simular) feeds from youtube, as this is (in my opinion) clearly aimed at creating addictive behaviour.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=8y8BYI422NU&
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Funny, I use a special plugin to hidden the "Recommendations" feed on youtube (to counter the "getting hooked" effect), .. but this "privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube" does show them (unless you explicitally say you do not want see them).
For a privacy oriented app, I would concider showing recommendation as "opt-in", not "opt-out"
Not sure if this isn't a mixed bag, given EU's blatant fixation with kneecapping or breaking e2ee (like in the UK).
Europe != EU. UK is not in the EU.
I was using the UK's recent legislative efforts to eliminate e2ee to illustrate similar goals that have been expressed by various high-ranking EU officials to presumably affect their European contituents. Not trying to get in a geopolitical debate here about UK or Europe
This isn’t even a slippery slope towards that though. This is all about consumer choice, privacy, and stopping a few companies from skimming 30% of the top of all digital sales.
Sure we have plenty of bootlickers, but the majority of EU laws have the population as priority.
Those bootlickers aren't in the majority.