The European Union wants to tackle issues of interoperability, data access and vendor self-preference with its landmark DMA legislation. Credit: European Union, 2018 Members of the European Union have confirmed the rules that will make up the new Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation is intended to rein in the power of large tech corporations such as Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta, forcing them to change how they integrate digital services and handle customer data. In a press conference held early on Friday morning, Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission executive vice-president and commissioner for competition, said she expects the DMA to come into force “sometime in October.” To date, any concerns around antitrust has been dealt with by the EU on a case-by-case basis. This legislation is intended to reform the system and address what are seen as systematic issues that exist within the market. The text, which was provisionally agreed upon after an eight-hour long discussion between the EU Parliament, Council and Commission, targets large companies which are being called ‘gatekeepers’ which provide “core platform services” and are most likely to enact unfair business practices. Initially this will include companies with a market capitalization of at least €75 billion (or sales in Europe of over €7.5 billion), at least 45 million monthly users in the EU, and provide certain digital services, such as web browsers, virtual assistants, messaging or social media applications. Private chat apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger could be forced to interoperate, giving users more choice over how they send messages, without having to worry about what platform the recipient is on. While the DMA is broad in scope and intended to enable a range of antitrust action, it also contains a number of specific demands for tech companies. Alongside the issue of interoperability, these also include the right to uninstall, personal data access controls, greater advertising transparency, an end to vendors self-preferencing their own services, and stopping certain app store requirements for developers. If a gatekeeper company does not comply with the rules, the Commission will have the authority to impose a fine of up to 10% of a company’s total worldwide turnover from the preceding financial year, or 20% in the case of repeated infringements. If a company is found to be consistently infringing the legislation, the European Commission may ban them from acquiring other companies for a certain period of time. Christian Ahlborn, partner and co-head of the technology sector at London-based law firm Linklaters said that, although some concessions have been made by all sides in the latest draft of the legislation, the parties involved in drawing up the legislation have also got their way with specific amendments. “The inclusion of virtual assistants and web browsers in the legislation is a major win for the European Parliament,” he said. “The Council has, in turn, kept the threshold for qualifying as a “gatekeeper” lower than the European Parliament had wanted, ensuring a larger number of platforms will fall within the DMA’s scope.” Related content opinion Apple's worst ad ever? For a marketing company that doubles as a tech company, Apple's latest iPad Pro is incredibly tone-deaf. By Steven Vaughan-Nichols May 09, 2024 5 mins Apple Marketing and Advertising Industry iPad opinion Apple's M4 chip really does compete with itself Just a few months after the last big leap forward, Apple leapt ahead again. By Jonny Evans May 09, 2024 5 mins Apple CPUs and Processors iPad news OpenAI unveils ‘Model Spec’: A framework for shaping responsible AI This first-of-its-kind document outlines the principles guiding model behavior in its API and ChatGPT, OpenAI announced in a blog post. By Gyana Swain May 09, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry Emerging Technology feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 26212 released for the Canary channel on May 8, 2024. By Preston Gralla May 09, 2024 253 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe