The EU has appointed six companies as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These companies will have six months to comply with a complete list of DMA-based dos and don’ts for each designated service. For the App Store, this means Apple must allow sideloading of apps, third-party app stores, external payment services, etc.
The European Commission today designated six gatekeepers for the first time under the Digital Markets Act (DMA): Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. A total of 22 core platform services provided by Gatekeeper have been designated. Six gatekeepers will be given six months to ensure full compliance with their DMA obligations for each designated core platform service.
Under the DMA, the European Commission can designate a digital platform as a ‘gatekeeper’ if it provides an important gateway between businesses and consumers with respect to core platform services. Today’s designation follows a 45-day review process conducted by the Commission after Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft and Samsung announced their potential gatekeeper positions. In particular, the European Commission has established gatekeeper status for certain core platform services:
In addition, the European Commission, in order to further evaluate the submissions of Microsoft and Apple, which argue that some of their core platform services do not qualify as gateways, despite meeting the threshold, have identified four Started market research.
● Microsoft: Bing, Edge, Microsoft Advertising
● Apple: iMessage
Under the DMA, these investigations aim to determine whether the well-substantiated counterarguments submitted by the companies indicate that the services in question should not be designated. The investigation must be completed within a maximum of 5 months.
Additionally, the European Commission has launched a market study to further assess whether Apple’s iPadOS should be designated as a gatekeeper, even though it does not meet the threshold. Under the DMA, this investigation must be completed within a maximum of 12 months.
In addition, the European Commission has stated that Gmail, Outlook.com and Samsung internet browsers qualify as gatekeepers under the DMA, but Alphabet, Microsoft and Samsung have declared these services ineligible as gateways. It concludes that it has provided sufficiently justified arguments to show that respective core platform services. Accordingly, the Commission decided not to designate Gmail, Outlook.com, and Samsung Internet Browser as core platform services. Therefore, Samsung is not designated as a gatekeeper with respect to core platform services.
Gatekeepers are now required to follow a full list of DMA-based “dos” and “don’ts” within six months. If the gatekeeper fails to comply, the Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total global turnover, which can reach up to 20% in repeated violations. In the event of systemic non-compliance, the Commission may provide additional remedies, such as requiring gatekeepers to sell their businesses or portions thereof, or prohibiting gatekeepers from acquiring additional services related to systemic non-compliance. may give power to adopt measures.
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