Apple to Let EU Users Set New Defaults for Multiple Apps, Delete App Store, Photos, Messages and More

[surferfb]

you're just arbitrarily drawing the line.

if it's a platform, it should abide by rules made for a platform. just because you don't care about game consoles doesn't mean the rules should be relaxed. in fact, arguably, plenty of people spend more $$$$ and time on game consoles than they do on iPhones.

Arguably the iPhone is a game console. The majority of App Store sales are games ($47.7 billion in games revenue out of $89.6 billion in App Store revenue in 2023)

 

[MilaM]

you're just arbitrarily drawing the line.

if it's a platform, it should abide by rules made for a platform. just because you don't care about game consoles doesn't mean the rules should be relaxed. in fact, arguably, plenty of people spend more $$$$ and time on game consoles than they do on iPhones.

The aggregate number are what counts. The economic activity that is facilitated on smartphones is orders of magnitude larger than what gamers spend on games each year. It's possible, that one day the EU will also look into this specific market. It was intentionally left out of the DMA legislation, probably because It's already enough work to enforce it as it is.

 

[surferfb]

The aggregate number are what counts. The economic activity that is facilitated on smartphones is orders of magnitude larger than what gamers spend on games each year. It's possible, that one day the EU will also look into this specific market. It was intentionally left out of the DMA legislation, probably because It's already enough work to enforce it as it is.

Literally false. The majority of money spent on smartphone apps is spent on games.

 

[MilaM]

Literally false. The majority of money spent on smartphone apps is spent on games.

It's not false, because you are thinking only about the fees Apple collects today. I'm talking also about all transactions that are not (yet) taxed by Apple/Google. Think ride-sharing, food orders, airline tickets, financial transactions. Nothing like that is happening on game consoles.

 

[surferfb]

It's not false, because you are thinking only about the fees Apple collects today. I'm talking also about all transactions that are not (yet) taxed by Apple/Google. Think ride-sharing, food orders, airline tickets, financial transactions. Nothing like that is happening on game consoles.

Ok. I’ll give you that. But then why does the DMA apply to YouTube? Video sharing i specifically called out. (Music streaming isn’t, clearly to avoid targeting Spotify). YouTube had $31.5 billion in revenue in 2023. Console games made $53.2 billion.

It’s because the DMA was targeted to hurt American tech companies.

 

[MilaM]

But then why does the DMA apply to YouTube? Video sharing i specifically called out.

Maybe it's because YouTube is the dominant platform for video distribution by a large margin? It's also owned by Google, the search engine with over 90% market share? Music streaming is quite competitive and switching is very easy. All music streaming services essentially have the same catalogue. You can't switch away from Youtube as a consumer because most of the content is exclusively available there. Content creators also practically have no choice but to do business with Youtube.

It’s because the DMA was targeted to hurt American tech companies.

If this is all you see in this legislation, then there really is no need discuss it further.

 

[AppliedMicro]

If this is all you see in this legislation, then there really is no need discuss it further.

If the claim was…

„…designed to allow European software/media/payment companies to compete
(who would otherwise be unable to, for lack of a hardware/platform they control)“

…I‘d consider it a claim that’s …discussable, I guess? But…

It’s because the DMA was targeted to hurt American tech companies.

…that‘s Europhobic nonsense.

Even Apple and Google employ thousands of employees across Europe and and pay good taxes, in addition to providing a valuable product/service/platform for European consumers.

There‘s no point in targeted hurting them.
And the DMA isn’t even particularly well designed to do so (to mainly „hurt“ them).

The accusation that the EU is out to „hurt“ them is all the more baffling given the long history of the European Commission been bending over backwards to support these companies‘ and their business models by providing transatlantic data transfer agreements. Despite such agreements having repeatedly been found „unconstitutional“ and by the European Court of Justice.

Not to mention their turning a blind eye and keeping mum about the mass surveillance conducted by U.S. American agencies on Europeans and in Europe.

If the EU really wanted to hurt American tech companies

• strengthen their privacy laws
• toughen the penalties for violations of them, especially for large-scale data collectors
• designate the U.S. as a the privacy-hostile jurisdiction that it is
• not enter into “unconstitutional“ trans-atlantic data sharing agreements with said country
• let U.S. tech companies companies run into the dilemma of either running afoul of the CLOUD act at home or of European privacy laws abroad
• and tell them to stuff it.

Problem solved - U.S. tech companies hurt effectively.

 

[serryjeinfeld]

The economic activity that is facilitated on smartphones is orders of magnitude larger than what gamers spend on games each year.

Games in general for all devices? Uh, no? Game industry is $250 billion. Phone is $550 billion.