Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union Thierry Breton on Tuesday demanded that Apple must open up the company’s vaunted walled garden – its ecosystem of hardware and software – to rivals.
“The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors,” Breton told Reuters.
“Be it the electronic wallet, browsers or app stores, consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers,” he said.
The newly adopted DMA sets out a list of dos and don’ts for Apple and other tech companies to abide by to increase competition.
Breton also took aim at Apple’s arguments that security and privacy issues are the reasons why it has a closed ecosystem.
“EU regulation fosters innovation, without compromising on security and privacy,” he said.
MacDailyNews Take: Put down the pipe, Terry.
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BREAKING NEWS: Time Cook demands EU open up its governance system to rival Government systems for open and fair competition.
Awesome, EXACTLY!…
I love State-ism and the EU Nannies…presumptuously deciding for all under the guise of betterment for all (and, because we know best).
…because government knows what’s best for us.
Corporate boards have fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders. Governments to the citizens.
Yes, corporations have responsibility to shareholders, and the best way to fulfill their covenant to shareholders is to be most responsible to CUSTOMERS!
@M’RM
Not all citizens are customers, nor should they be my corporate welfare friend.
To Damn Skippy: What I was trying to convey is that the best way for a corporation to grow and be successful is to be responsive to its customers. En masse, their opinions can be vital.
I say yeah, let’s compete; apple exits for one year and then is allowed to come back in “as is, or with any new and improved” tech and we’ll see who stacks up the best after one more year has passed.
One silver lining to what the EU is demanding may prevent situations like Chrome on iOS being the only OS version that was vulnerable to attack due to ALL browsers on iOS being required to use Webkit as the rendering engine in place of their respective native engines.
Perhaps if Thierry Breton stamped his feet and held his breath.. Apple would cave.
Brexit!
Amexit
Somehow, these Supra-Govennment a******s have to be reined in!
Hope the EU is not bluffing. Would be nice to see a good dise if authoritarian leftism on a leftist like Cook.
Cook caved to China multiple times. So, it will be no surprise when Cook caves to the EU and has already done so (experience) with USB ports on new iPhones. Reason being, Cook does not do anything based on PRINCIPLE that would jeopardize company profits for the Board and shareholders — he would be tossed out on his ass if he did…
Prerequisite to being responsible to your shareholders: Be responsible to your CUSTOMERS.
Apple’s store, Apple’s rules.
Every sovereign nation has its rules. Corporations will comply. Big Tech including Apple should feel grateful that countries have allowed them to build up as large of monopolies as they have.
You can’t seriously believe that Apple’s iOS store wasn’t implemented specifically to lock in maximum profits from a captured audience. The Mac app store is just as secure and convenient but look how competition has kept Mac app prices down … no in-app gimmicks , annoying ads, location tracking, and data skimming required. IOS would be infinitely better if it had app store competition.
You do believe in free market competition, don’t you?
This is clearly a play on getting around Apple’s privacy protections. As soon as Apple opens up the opportunity for outside apps, many will leave the app store to force you to use their app outside the app store protections so they can track and gather info. Zoom on the mac is a good example. I have to use this for work, yet they are not on the mac app store, so my choice is either to download their (likely) spyware, or log in through the internet browser every time (which limits functionality).
Zoom is not an Apple product, why do you feel you are forced to use it rather than another product you CAN find on the mac app store?