The CEO of Apple is traveling through Europe. But not all of his stops have been as pleasant as the one in Spain. Tim Cook has also met in Brussels with Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. A conversation that has served the European representative to remind Apple of one thing: there is an important new law that they must comply with.
USB-C is just the first step. It has taken years, but iPhones finally have the single universal charger. The European Union sees this movement as confirmation that they must continue promoting regulations on large technology companies, despite the fact that the implementation is not always ideal and there are first- and second-class connectors.
However, the move to USB-C is not the only thing that is required of Apple. With the arrival of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the demands on Apple and other large technology companies are considerably greater. All of them have been open to collaborating and adapting, but there is a way from saying to doing.
The DMA asks Apple to open its ecosystem. “The next job for Apple and other big technology companies, according to the DMA (Digital Markets Act), is to open their doors to competitors,” Breton told Reuters. “Whether it’s the electronic wallet, browsers or application stores, consumers who use an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services from a variety of providers.
That is, Apple must end the closed ecosystem. Your apps like iMessage will need to work on Android and will need to allow installation of third-party stores on iOS.
Big Tech is aware. Europe reminds you. It’s a tug of war. The large technology companies that must comply with the Digital Markets Law know well who they are: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp) and Microsoft.
These companies are the ones that are required to open their systems to third parties. They have until March 2024 to do so or they will be exposed to million-dollar fines of up to 10% of their global annual income or up to 20% in the event of repetition.
Tim Cook’s meeting with Thierry Breton is part of the round of contacts from the European Commission to remind the different CEOs of their obligations.
Security and privacy as a counterweight. “We remain very concerned about the data privacy and security risks that the DMA poses to our users. We will focus on how to mitigate these impacts and continue to offer the best products and services to our European customers,” Apple explains in a statement.
The company points out that opening its ecosystems would imply a risk to the privacy of its users. A similar position to that taken with its messaging service: “iMessage is a great service that Apple users love because it provides an easy way to communicate with friends and family while offering leading privacy and security protections.” in the industry”.
The debate is to what extent it is true that expanding the compatibility of systems affects their security. From Europe they consider that these large companies have sufficient resources to ensure the same level of protection while allowing anyone to use them.
In Xataka | The DMA threatens the heart of Big Tech: Europe steps on the accelerator with a law as ambitious as it is difficult to apply
