EU Launches Probes Into Apple, Meta, Google Under New Digital Competition Law (europa.eu) 20
The European Union has launched investigations into Apple, Meta and Google under its sweeping new digital-competition law, adding to the regulatory scrutiny large U.S. tech companies are facing worldwide. From a report: The suite of probes [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; official press release here] announced Monday are the first under the EU's Digital Markets Act law, which took effect earlier this month. They come less than a week after the Justice Department sued Apple over allegations it makes it difficult for competitors to integrate with the iPhone, ultimately raising prices for customers. Apple and Google will now face EU scrutiny of how they are complying with rules that say they must allow app developers to inform customers about alternative offers outside those companies' main app stores. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it is concerned about constraints the tech companies place on developers' ability to freely communicate with users and promote their offers.
The bloc will also examine changes that Google made to how its search results appear in Europe. The new digital competition law says companies cannot give their own services preference over similar services that are offered by rivals. Another probe will look at how Apple complies with rules that say users should be able to easily remove software applications and change default settings on their iPhones, as well as how the company shows choice screens that offer alternative search engine and browser options.
The bloc will also examine changes that Google made to how its search results appear in Europe. The new digital competition law says companies cannot give their own services preference over similar services that are offered by rivals. Another probe will look at how Apple complies with rules that say users should be able to easily remove software applications and change default settings on their iPhones, as well as how the company shows choice screens that offer alternative search engine and browser options.
The actually good part of EU (Score:3, Insightful)
EU working on keeping market from becoming monopolized is one of the things it was originally created for. And it seems to sorta kinda work.
Let's hope it's not Vestager's "empowered women who flushed several easy cases down the toilet in last couple of years" agency that does the actual probe, and instead at least some of the Kroes' commission's hyper competent corporate men are rehired to do the work. That's was the competition arm of the Commission that used to scare the shit out of large IT giants trying to monopolize the market, led by a hypercompetent woman who didn't take any of the feminist diversity hire nonsense and hired on merit and nothing but. But that was happily killed by "we must purge the hypercompetent men hand picked by Kroes that scared the shit out of IT giants, and replace them with incompetent women so that equity, the ideology of equal outcomes can come to pass" Vestager's take on it. That's the current commissioner filling Kroes' shoes. She's just as incompetent as Kroes was competent, and lost several big cases as a result in last few years. Turns out competence matters in governance. Who knew?
Sadly, I suspect incompetence will continue, as once feminist nepotism takes roots in organization, it requires a massive purge to remove it.
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EU working on keeping market from becoming monopolized is one of the things it was originally created for. And it seems to sorta kinda work.
Let's hope it's not Vestager's "empowered women who flushed several easy cases down the toilet in last couple of years" agency that does the actual probe, and instead at least some of the Kroes' commission's hyper competent corporate men are rehired to do the work. That's was the competition arm of the Commission that used to scare the shit out of large IT giants trying to monopolize the market, led by a hypercompetent woman who didn't take any of the feminist diversity hire nonsense and hired on merit and nothing but. But that was happily killed by "we must purge the hypercompetent men hand picked by Kroes that scared the shit out of IT giants, and replace them with incompetent women so that equity, the ideology of equal outcomes can come to pass" Vestager's take on it. That's the current commissioner filling Kroes' shoes. She's just as incompetent as Kroes was competent, and lost several big cases as a result in last few years. Turns out competence matters in governance. Who knew?
Sadly, I suspect incompetence will continue, as once feminist nepotism takes roots in organization, it requires a massive purge to remove it.
The EU Government is incompetent at understanding Tech Matters; who knew?
Unfortunately, the US seems hell-bent on following their headlong leap into the chasm of Idiocracy.
Sigh.
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EU working on keeping market from becoming monopolized is one of the things it was originally created for. And it seems to sorta kinda work.
Let's hope it's not Vestager's "empowered women who flushed several easy cases down the toilet in last couple of years" agency that does the actual probe, and instead at least some of the Kroes' commission's hyper competent corporate men are rehired to do the work. That's was the competition arm of the Commission that used to scare the shit out of large IT giants trying to monopolize the market, led by a hypercompetent woman who didn't take any of the feminist diversity hire nonsense and hired on merit and nothing but. But that was happily killed by "we must purge the hypercompetent men hand picked by Kroes that scared the shit out of IT giants, and replace them with incompetent women so that equity, the ideology of equal outcomes can come to pass" Vestager's take on it. That's the current commissioner filling Kroes' shoes. She's just as incompetent as Kroes was competent, and lost several big cases as a result in last few years. Turns out competence matters in governance. Who knew?
Sadly, I suspect incompetence will continue, as once feminist nepotism takes roots in organization, it requires a massive purge to remove it.
The EU Government is incompetent at understanding Tech Matters; who knew?
Unfortunately, the US seems hell-bent on following their headlong leap into the chasm of Idiocracy.
Sigh.
We need to make Apple illegal to use in the EU. Ban the use of Facebook, or Meta. The EU can allow only e Yandex as a search engine, then all will be well, and their citizens willbe free of the source of their problems.
Now it is quite clear that the real source of their problems is the USA - demand geoblocking of any companies that are US based, and make VPN's illegal.
I geoblock Europe from my sites, works pretty well, I doubt many EU citizens want to use them anyhow, but I'm doing my part to save t
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Of course the EU people want to use your websites. Americans are exceptional! Your manifest destiny makes your tech companies better and above the law. Why wont the EU government see it?
Well, sounds like it is time to tell the widdle cowad where most of the 'orrible 'Murricans came from. The pristine, peaceful and moral Eden of....
Europe.
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It used to be hyper competent. Neelie Kroes didn't tolerate stupidity, mediocrity or excellence. It was exceptional individuals only, and she brought a lot of them with her when she became a Commissioner.
She was a corporate shark to the bone, and so were the people she brought with her. That is why every megacorpo who came across her left with a mix of awe and existential dread. She was one of their own, she knew exactly how things work, and she knew who she needed to hire to get the job done in that enviro
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It's both sad and hilarious to me that we have two women in the same post who couldn't be more different. Kroes was the kind of a woman that reminds us why equal rights for women are necessary if we want to maximize talented people being able to rise to the top. She was exceptional at her job. That one in a hundred million combination of talent, hard work, suitable temperament and education. And Vestager is the example of dangers posed by equal rights not coupled with equal responsibilities. Career politician with heavily religious background that converts to whatever religion grants her most power in the moment. And then goes off the deep end with ideological extremes leading to persecution based on sex and extreme corrupting nepotism.
Fascinating Herstory Lesson!
Too bad us Apple Users in the US also have to suffer Vestiges (spelling intended) Religious Idiocracy. It was bad enough when the EU decided to damn-near ruin the entire Electronics industry by deciding that suddenly Solder didn't need Lead in it. . . NOW!
I lived through that bullshit. Tin Whiskers FTW! And that wasn't even Vestiges.
They need to just STOP IT!
nice to see (Score:3, Interesting)
Nice. Now do Microsoft (Score:1, Flamebait)
The greatest preventer of digital advancements and all-around most responsible cretins for massive losses due to cyberattacks.
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The press release specifically targets Alphabet for skewing Google's search results. Microsoft *are* mentioned in the brief. But they are better at playing this particular game.
In this instance the EU should be sending a firmly worded warning to Microsoft for default-browser shenanigans.
A word to the EU - propose some guidelines on an AI assistant before it snowballs. Consistency, if they took it to its natural conclusion then every major platform (viz iOS, Windows, Android) should be forced to develop vend
If your brand new law... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Laws exist to push society in a direction that it isn’t reaching on its own because people are not in alignment. If your brand new law immediately has that many violators, despite having sharp teeth and the violators being properly motivated by those teeth to comply with the law (to the minimum degree necessary, of course), doesn’t that suggest the law was unclear in what would or wouldn’t be acceptable? For instance, it sounds like the EU is basically declaring Facebook’s existing b
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Laws exist to push society in a direction that it isn’t reaching on its own because people are not in alignment. If your brand new law immediately has that many violators, despite having sharp teeth and the violators being properly motivated by those teeth to comply with the law (to the minimum degree necessary, of course), doesn’t that suggest the law was unclear in what would or wouldn’t be acceptable? For instance, it sounds like the EU is basically declaring Facebook’s existing business model illegal (aside: fine by me), without ever actually saying so in plain language. Why not just say so instead of writing an ambiguous law that’ll require a 12-month probe, protracted court case, and a ruling that leaves everyone unhappy at the end?
I've long believed that the EU's model is based more on pecuniary extraction than anything else. when you have a successful company like Apple/Google/Meta that is making a lot of money, does it not make sense that you as the EU get to tap into that money to help pay for your government?
Just tell everyone that the offenders are evil people who want to crush all competition, and that their profit is obscene, then tell them to fork some money over to you. So now, the EU can strut around like cock-a-hoops a
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Exactly, the EU is nothing more or better than a protection racket, shakedown artists trying to cover it in "consumer protection".
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Oh, my God, Thomas Jefferson is whirling like a dervish in his grave.
Going after Apple makes sense, Google, not so much (Score:2)
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Other than providing the platform and millions of possible sales opportunities. The fees aren't a flat 30% either. However, let's not let facts get in the way of a good rant against Apple.
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Here in Melbourne, yes it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep, Epic Games are currently weaponizing our Australian federal court against Apple and Google.
I'm not sure our kingdom of 27 million has that much global clout in the scheme of things but I guess they'll try it on in every jurisdiction.
Anyway, back to those 'evil' Europeans... They have some tech companies in Volla, HMD, Jolla, Fairphone etc. Use some of that money on alternative ecosystems that aren't reliant on 'the six gatekeepers'.