Digital companies and some products must comply with a list of rules, including making it easier for users to switch to another provider’s products or services.
Apple’s iPad Air. (Source: Reuters) Apple’s iPad Air. (Source: Reuters)
The European Union (EU) announced on April 29 that Apple’s iPad operating system will have to comply with new, tougher regulations that the bloc is applying to control leading digital companies. world.
The European Commission (EC) has classified Apple’s iPadOS operating system as a “core” service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – a law that forces companies to regulate the way they do business. aims to encourage competition between online platforms.
Before iPadOS, DMA also targeted other Apple products such as the iOS operating system for iPhones, the App Store and the Safari browser.
Under the DMA, digital companies and certain so-called “gatekeeper” products must comply with a list of rules, including making it easy for users to switch to the product, services from another supplier, and limit data sharing between products under the same parent company.
In addition to Apple, companies considered “gatekeepers” by the EU include Alphabet – the parent company of Google and Amazon; ByteDance – owner of TikTok; Meta and Microsoft.
The inclusion of iPadOS on the monitoring list exacerbates the long-running dispute between the EU and Apple over the bloc’s new digital law.
Apple is currently one of the corporations that publicly opposes the DMA most strongly. According to Apple, this law poses privacy and security threats to users.
However, the EU’s competition regulator believes it is necessary to put iPadOS on the monitoring list because this operating system “locks in” users to protect its large ecosystem and Apple has 6 months to comply. DMA regulations.
Ms. Margrethe Vestager – EU Commissioner in charge of competition issues, emphasized: “The above decision will ensure that fairness and competitiveness are maintained on this platform, along with the other 22 services we offer. I made the appointment last September.”
At the present time, Apple is also facing an investigation into profit discounts under DMA. Last month, the EU announced that it would investigate whether Apple’s App Store allows developers to provide users with free incentives outside of their app market./.
