Written by Fu Yun Chi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – ByteDance, the owner of Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and TikTok, has announced plans for breakthrough EU technology that comes into effect on Thursday, from overhauling its online platforms to backroom engineering. We have been scrambling for the past six months to comply with the regulations.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is one of the most comprehensive regulatory measures to rein in so-called “Big Tech” and is expected to reshape the global technology industry after decades of unrestrained growth. I am.
Criticism from rivals and users and cautious comments from watchdogs suggest some of the six companies could find themselves in the crosshairs of regulators over potential non-compliance in the coming months. .
If any of the six tech giants fail to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by the EU's Thursday deadline, they could end up being investigated and fined up to 10% of their global turnover. be.
Apple has been most affected by the DMA, forcing the iPhone maker to open up its closed ecosystem, including allowing software developers to distribute apps to users in the European Union outside of their own App Store. It is being
But even if developers choose not to use Apple's App Store or payment system, the introduction of new fees, such as a “core technology fee” of 50 euro cents per user account per year, has already been announced by the EU Antitrust Commissioner. It has caught the attention of Margrethe Vestager.
Vestager said on Monday that after Spotify fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for preventing it from showing other payment options outside of the App Store, the new pricing structure will allow companies to compete. He said that incentives for switching to other companies should not be undermined. Apple said it would appeal the decision and declined further comment.
Meanwhile, rivals such as Swiss email service Proton say Apple's compliance efforts aren't going far enough. The commission declined to comment.
Alphabet Inc.'s Google has put more of its eight core platform services under DMA than any other company, and despite having thousands of technical engineers working on compliance efforts, It also carries the risk of an investigation.
The company's mandatory overhaul of its search results will benefit aggregators like Booking.com and Expedia, whose intensive lobbying efforts with Google will boost their visibility and online traffic.
This is already causing friction with hotels, airlines and restaurants, where up to 50% of their online traffic is lost as users are directed to large online intermediaries, and in some cases millions of euros in revenue. Some expect it to be lost. Google declined to comment.
Meta says it is asking Instagram and Facebook users if their data can be shared between its services, putting it at risk of being investigated. Mehta declined to comment.
Microsoft, Amazon and ByteDance will initially face less oversight as EU regulators focus resources on one or two cases to ensure they can withstand legal challenges, people said. It is said that there is a possibility. Microsoft, Amazon and ByteDance declined to comment.
Pressure for an EU investigation is also coming from some of the big six companies.
At least one person told the European Commission it was unfair that it had to act on DMA rules while its rivals ignored them, one of the people with direct knowledge of the matter said. .
Unlike EU antitrust investigations, which can take years to complete, DMA enforcement officers have just one year to announce their findings.
(1 dollar = 0.9173 euro)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alexander Smith, Jamie Freed and David Evans)
