Microsoft and Apple are reportedly seeking to remove Bing and iMessage, respectively, from the list of “gatekeepers” subject to new European regulations. financial times report Both companies have argued privately (and separately) that their services are not large or powerful enough to justify the restrictions of the Digital Markets Act, which is meant to boost competition in the technology sector.
On September 6, the European Commission will publish a list of designated gatekeepers, including the names of all companies and the specific services they provide. These powerful platforms are defined based on revenue and number of users, and must meet a number of interoperability and competition rules. Apple and Microsoft were already known to be included on the list, along with Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, ByteDance and Samsung, but the committee will have to decide which parts of their empires to target. Once the EU appoints a gatekeeper, they will have to abide by the DMA’s rules for six months, meaning he will have until March 2024.
according to F.T.Microsoft is “unlikely” to dispute that its Windows platform meets the definition of a gatekeeper, but it does argue that Bing’s relatively small share of the search market (and its much more popular competitor Google) is unlikely to dispute that its Windows platform meets the gatekeeper definition. (Compare) argues that if we have to take any action, we have no choice but to further reduce it. For example, providing users with access to rival search engines.
Similarly, Apple is reportedly working on ways to open up iOS to third-party app stores and sideloading to comply with expected rules.but F.T. says the company is fighting iMessage does not have to interoperate with other messaging services because it does not meet DMA’s 45 million monthly active user threshold.as F.T. Apple hasn’t released official numbers, but outside estimates suggest iMessage may have 1 billion users worldwide.
The DMA is part of a suite of EU laws aimed at curbing the power of technology companies. The Digital Services Act came into force late last month, focusing on how platforms handle user data and moderation.