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There are lots of other operating systems too. I listed many of them for you in a different thread. You poo poo them because they suck
Exactly. "Lots of" other operating systems that all suck and are used by hardly anyone are irrelevant for antitrust and competition law. Or the competition that includes Apple/iOS and Google/Android.

You don’t have to use Apple products
Neither does SanderEvers - or is he "forced to" use the apps he got from Apple.

You don’t have to eff them up for the rest of us.
I don't have to - the EU is uneffing it for me. At least with regards to the App Store and in-app purchases.
 
There will only be further reduction in available services to EU customers, as shown with Apple Intelligence. American firms are not required to do business in Europe...

Apple Intelligence will come to the EU, just later than to the rest of the world. Considering it is still in its diapers, not a big deal.

American firms want to do business in Europe as much as elsewhere where they can make profit. And guess what? 400+ million people generate a lot of profit. Meantime China’s growth figures are down, Russia is sanctioned out and 90% of people in other potentially big markets (like India) simply cannot afford Apple’s products. This has nothing to do with the EU, just an economic reality. So no, Apple is not leaving the EU any time soon.

And the most ironic bit is that Apple could have easily made it all go away by aligning its iOS/iPadOS policies to those of macOS.
 
Just the fact that if you want to do a cloud backup, you MUST use iCloud (with only 5GB of free storage, not per device but per Apple ID) is something that should end in 2024.
While we're at it, they should force Apple to just give away iPhones. And not charge devs to host their apps. Maybe pay users to use the phones. Right? Why not. :rolleyes:
 
The DMA is clear and concise.

Apple just has the monetary incentive to pretend otherwise to drag out the process for as long as possible, so that’s what they do.
If the DMA was "clear and concise" there would be absolutely no room for what Apple is doing...and the EU wouldn't have to investigate to find out whether or not it's a violation. Clear and concise means "this is what we mean. Period." No room for guessing. You can't say the DMA is clear and concise while also having so many EU fans here saying it's about the "spirit" of the law and not the "letter" of it. If it doesn't straight up say what it means without a shadow of a doubt, and with no room for interpretation from ANY company about what it might mean...it's not clear and concise.

Simply put...the fact that there is even room for Apple to even ATTEMPT these things...means it's not clear and concise. Clear and concise would be "such-and-such action, in so-and-so fashion is forbidden. Period. No exceptions".
 
You didn't answer my question. How can the populace legally push back, directly, against a corporation? Not via the market, but via the legal system?

Why must it be the legal system?

Vote with your Euro. I guarantee if everyone in the EU stops buying Apple products, Apple will change quickly. When your corporations lobby your governments and get regulations passed in order to secure a market advantage, I guarantee there will be legal challenges and push back that will slow the change.

Governments are best when they regulate as little as possible. That doesn’t mean there should be no regulation of the economy — everyone knows that capitalism sucks, just not as badly as tightly government-controlled economies. Balance is the key. Vestager is unbalanced.

There has to be a check on corporate power.

And there has to be a check on government power. As Vestager said of the upcoming DSA “These new powers, they would go hand in hand with expansive regulation”. This is a woman who doesn’t care about consumers. She cares about expansive regulation because that is what she values. It is what her career is focused on. It’s how she measures her own self worth. It is how she gets power. It is how she makes her legacy — by forcing you to live under her rules and the consequences of those rules without giving you a choice.

They are not above the populace, nor above the governments, and not above the law. They are low on the totem pole of entities that matter.

Both governments and corporations are human organizations. Both are subject to the same human nature. One is not morally superior to the other. Governments and corporations can both be corrupted. Governments, though, in present day, have far greater power and ability to cause pain, suffering, and death than corporations. Corruption in governments is far more profitable than corruption in companies. If you don’t believe me, ask Putin.
 
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These things are not really important. I mean, third-party app stores are fine and I have installed Fortnite on my iPhone (but never played it), but there is no way there will be enough apps to replace the sacred App Store. Look at Android, it has always been open to third-party app stores, but they are still niche.

I want to be able to replace iCloud! Not by installing some app like OneDrive or NextCloud, but a deeply integrated, transparent replacement for iCloud. I want all installed apps to use my own cloud without them even knowing it. Just like I can do on desktop OSes: I can install Dropbox or Google Drive or OwnCloud and have my entire hard drive synchronised and backed up in the cloud or on my own NAS.
 
You mean this, where users can uninstall Edge and Bing?


Microsoft did make changes to Windows to comply with other provisions of the DMA and is delivering these changes to Windows PCs in the EEA.
  • The Edge browser and the Bing web search functionality were redesigned so that users can uninstall these applications from Windows using the standard Windows mechanisms that are available for uninstallation if they choose to do so.
  • Microsoft has enabled and provided instructions for third-party web search applications to offer web search services through the search box on the Windows task bar and to rely on any browser of their choice to show a search results page in the same way as the Microsoft Bing web search application. Similarly, Windows enables and has provided information to developers on how to create third-party news feeds in the Windows Widgets panel in the same way as Microsoft Edge.
  • Microsoft also modified the sign-in experience on Windows. Prior to the DMA, Windows automatically signed users into other Microsoft products and services that combined data, including into Edge, Bing, and the Microsoft “Start” service (e.g. news, weather, etc.) when users are first signed into Windows. Windows will no longer automatically sign users into these services.
Finally, Microsoft made a number of changes to how it handles data associated with the use of Windows by users in the EEA.
  • For example, Microsoft has put in place new data handling practices and controls to ensure that any data collected from Windows PCs in the EEA about non-Microsoft applications running on Windows – for example, data collected for the purpose of detecting bugs that impact those applications or Windows – is not used for any competitive purpose against the providers of those applications.
  • Similarly, Microsoft redesigned Windows data consent flows to make clear when Microsoft combines Windows data with data from other Microsoft products and services and it will obtain consent for those data combinations, including issuing new consent screens to existing Windows users where required.

They're even going after Microsoft for their bundling of Teams with Office



But we all know this isn't really about the EU and Microsoft. It's about you and others who are against the DMA.

I'm in the EEA and I can't uninstall Edge.

Not only that it regularly reminds me to set Bing as the search engine and reminds me to replace Firefox. Also ads for Bing and Edge appear in the search menu.
 
Yes...a group of people, who may or may not have financial stakes in altering things, attacks and disables American companies technology. I'm sure customers will love the added BS and confusion and third party apps that can take their private info. It's like Apple being forced to be a Google/Samsung Phone...Oh well...so much freedom...
 
I'm in the EEA and I can't uninstall Edge.

Not only that it regularly reminds me to set Bing as the search engine and reminds me to replace Firefox. Also ads for Bing and Edge appear in the search menu.
Well, Microsoft has had a reputation for being "evil" for a long time. They took DOS from IBM and parts of OS/2, which I remember being pretty upset about when I was a kid. Now, looking back with some perspective, I just accept that Microsoft was what it was when I was 8, and it'll likely continue to be that way long after I'm gone.

As for Apple, honestly, it feels like there's no other viable choice these days. Dell was great in the 2000s, but now it's not what it used to be. HP, which is basically old Compaq, has never been good. At this point, you're left with two options: either build your own computer or buy a Mac and use Linux.
 
“Oh no! Won’t somebody please defend/think of the trillion dollar corporations!”

This forum, every single EU article
Which is as cringeworthy as it is sad because most users on here are Americans and won’t see most of these changes.

The whole thing of identifying oneself though products and brands has gone far beyond what marketing professionals could have ever hoped for.

People are literally feeling personally attacked when someone speaks ill of their favorite trillion dollar corporation.
 
Agree, I don't understand why so many people forget that corporations take decisions in their own interests while politicians take decisions in the interest of the people / consumers.
What?!!? That part is news to me. Some politicians may do that, at least part of the time. But, that's either naive or plain wrong. I'll assume that you're just being optimistic...

(I added the bold emphasis...)
 
I hope most people realize these rules are to protect consumers by giving them the freedom of choice. If big tech companies try to lock you in or misuse their power, it’s great to have those rules as a consumer.
They give you a false sense of freedom. In our reality, they give the big tech companies the freedom to make more money. They give Epic Games and Microsoft the freedom to make their own App Stores and sell their games to customers without paying 30% to Apple. That's all.

If you don’t agree with it, you can just use the AppStore and all the default apps Apple is giving you. Nothing changes for you!

Not quite. In the EU you can not install Delta Emulator from the Apple App Store. You had to pay for AltStore PAL to install Delta Emulator. But since a few weeks AltStore PAL is free, thanks to Tim Sweeney. But still, you cannot install it from the App Store in the EU.

But now you’ve the possibility to use other stores, apps that weren’t possible before.

Be glad the EU uses their power by giving you freedom.

Otherwise we would still have the lightning cable and the new iMessage couldn’t communicate other than with other iPhones.

These rules aren’t only for Apple but apply to all big tech companies.
These rules are lobbied by other big tech companies and are just for Apple. The EU had to say they were for everyone, but they are not. These rules do not apply to Sony or Microsoft. You cannot install your own apps on PlayStation or Xbox without Sony or Microsoft approving it. You cannot install some kind of Wine on Xbox and play Steam games on it, like you do it on Linux.
 
Yes...a group of people, who may or may not have financial stakes in altering things, attacks and disables American companies technology. I'm sure customers will love the added BS and confusion and third party apps that can take their private info. It's like Apple being forced to be a Google/Samsung Phone...Oh well...so much freedom...
You can’t sell products and then force buyers to use them a certain way.

-Apple is only being forced to upon iPhones up for those who want to install third party software. Users that want to stay inside the walled garden can do so 1/1 like they used to before these changes.

It’s the buyer’s iPhone post purchase, not Apple’s.

I should be able to run any software on it without voiding warranty or jail breaking it. And, conversely, I should be able to do the opposite and do what Apple wants me to if that’s what I want to do.

Don’t you know what it means to buy and own things?

This is just what a fair balance between consumer rights and interests of businesses looks like.
 
Which is as cringeworthy as it is sad because most users on here are Americans and won’t see most of these changes.

The whole thing of identifying oneself though products and brands has gone far beyond what marketing professionals could have ever hoped for.

People are literally feeling personally attacked when someone speaks ill of their favorite trillion dollar corporation.
I've had two family members who went to the EU this July for vacation. Ever since their phones have been messed up due to geo-detection and the changes Apple installed on their phones to comply with the EU. It rendered their phones almost useless when they got back to the States. I even had to get one of their phones traded in at the Apple Store. So, taking phones back and forth between the US and the EU is becoming a real issue, and it's definitely affecting Americans too.
 
If the DMA was "clear and concise" there would be absolutely no room for what Apple is doing...and the EU wouldn't have to investigate to find out whether or not it's a violation. Clear and concise means "this is what we mean. Period." No room for guessing. You can't say the DMA is clear and concise while also having so many EU fans here saying it's about the "spirit" of the law and not the "letter" of it. If it doesn't straight up say what it means without a shadow of a doubt, and with no room for interpretation from ANY company about what it might mean...it's not clear and concise.

Simply put...the fact that there is even room for Apple to even ATTEMPT these things...means it's not clear and concise. Clear and concise would be "such-and-such action, in so-and-so fashion is forbidden. Period. No exceptions".
The only thing clear about the DMA is that it was made by people who clearly don‘t know anything about tech, 90% of the DMA is armchair tech talk without any clear guidance. I‘m sure concise is not part of the encyclopedia these folks use to compose their spiritful laws.

I like the idea behind the DMA, but it get‘s a D- and a clear and concise "at least there was effort" from me.
 
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