If there's one thing Apple and Google can agree on — it's that the EU's Digital Markets Act sucks! Or so they say. The two companies are collectively urging the European Union to revisit the three-year-old regulation, which they say is failing the industry and consumers.
Apple published a post on Wednesday which says:
- The DMA is impacting many parts of European users' experiences — from how they download apps and make app payments to how their Apple products work together.
- The DMA's requirement that Apple make certain features work on non-Apple products and apps before they can share them with Apple users is causing the company to delay new features in the EU such as live translation with AirPods, iPhone mirroring to Mac computers, and preferred routes on Apple Maps.
- Apple says its teams haven't found a way to share these capabilities securely with other developers without putting their users' data at risk, so they've not been able to bring the features to the EU.
- The company says that it has suggested changes to the features that would protect its users' data, but so far the European Commission has rejected their proposals.
- The DMA's requirement that Apple allow sideloading other apps, alternative app marketplaces, and alternative payment systems make it more likely that EU users will be exposed to scams spread through fake banking apps, malware disguised as games, and third-party payment systems that overcharge users and offer no buyer protections.
- The DMA lets other companies request access to user data and core technologies of Apple products, which creates risks for Apple users. For example, Apple has received requests for the complete content of a user's notifications including their messages, e-mails, and medical alerts, as well as the full history of Wi-Fi networks a user has joined.
- Apple says that the DMA is not living up to its promise of promoting competition and giving European consumers more choices. When features are delayed or unavailable in the region, users get fewer choices. Forcing Apple to build features for non-Apple products means making options available to European consumers more similar, not more differentiated. And lastly, the DMA's rules are unfair, and many only seem to apply to Apple, even though Samsung is the smartphone market leader in Europe.
- Apple ends the letter by saying, “Despite our concerns with the DMA, teams across Apple are spending thousands of hours to bring new features to the European Union while meeting the law’s requirements. But it’s become clear that we can’t solve every problem the DMA creates.”
Google followed up the next day with a post of its own where it said:
- The DMA is causing “significant and unintended harm to European users and many of the small businesses it was meant to protect.”
- For example, the DMA requires Google Search to stop showing travel results that link directly to airline and hotel sites and instead show links to intermediary websites that charge for inclusion, which raises prices for consumers and makes it harder for users to find reliable, direct booking information.
- The DMA is making it difficult to protect users from scams and malicious links on Android by forcing Google to remove its safeguards, even though Android has always allowed sideloading and alternative app stores on its operating system.
- Like Apple, the company argues that “regulatory burdens and uncertainty” are delaying its product launches, such as its newest AI features, by up to a year after they launch in the rest of the world.
- Google argues that it's “time for a reset” and that despite changes its made to comply with the DMA, it still faces considerable uncertainty and unpredictability, partly due to overlapping rules form national regulators that are undermining the DMA's goal of creating harmonized, consistent rules across the EU.
Apple says it is “urging regulators to take a closer look at how the law is affecting the EU citizens who use Apple products every day.”
Google says, they are calling on the European Commission “to ensure that future enforcement is user-driven, fact-based, consistent and clear.”