The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, applicable as of May 1, finds tech giants scrambling to anticipate regional compliance. The regulatory framework aims to ensure tech giants don’t abuse their clout by taking advantage of consumers and smaller companies. Within two months, companies providing core platform services will have to notify the European Commission and provide all relevant information. The Commission will then have two months to identify companies that fit the DMA definition of “gatekeeper.” Those that do will be subject to DMA rules and have six months to conform. Continue reading Big Tech Braces for Potential Impact of EU Digital Markets Act

If it overcomes regulatory hurdles and completes its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft plans to launch a mobile app store for games to challenge Apple and Google, according to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Games. The EU’s Digital Markets Act mandates that the makers of Android devices and iPhones must make their mobile platforms accessible to app stores by third parties, with enforcement beginning in March 2024. That means Microsoft could open a mobile app store as soon as next year, adapting the company’s Xbox and Game Pass apps to accommodate sales to mobile devices. Continue reading Microsoft Plans to Launch Its Own Mobile Games App Store

Microsoft has signed agreements giving Nintendo and Nvidia access to Activision Blizzard titles including from the popular “Call of Duty” franchise in a bid to advance its proposed $75 billion purchase of the game firm. The acquisition is opposed by some regulators in the U.S. and Europe on antitrust grounds. Microsoft’s offer to provide valuable IP to platforms that compete with its Xbox aims to quell such concerns. While Nvidia and Nintendo appear to have capitulated as a result of the new contingency, guaranteed for at least 10 years, Sony Interactive Entertainment remains a holdout. Continue reading Microsoft Elevates Activision Deal with ‘Call of Duty’ Promise

Both the European Parliament (the EU’s law-making body) and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were represented on a CES panel on “AI Rules and Tools,” moderated by CTA vice president of emerging technology policy Doug Johnson. Also on the panel were executives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and insurance provider Elevance Health, for a robust discussion on how to arrive at standards and regulations for the powerful — but often industry-based — AI technologies that will also be accepted by countries around the world and industries with competing interests. Continue reading CES: Addressing Challenges to Creating Global AI Standards

The European Commission has formed a “preliminary view” that Meta Platforms has breached EU antitrust law by manipulating competition in the online classified advertising markets on Facebook and Instagram. The Commission took particular umbrage with the bundling of Meta’s Facebook with access to Facebook Marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell items. Meta could face a fine as high as $11.8 billion if the allegations of self-dealing prove true. The Commission also claims Meta is imposing unfair conditions on Marketplace competitors for its own benefit. Continue reading EU Pushes Its Antitrust Case Against Facebook Marketplace

President Biden has signed an executive order designed to repair data sharing with the European Union. The arrangement has been in disarray since 2020, when the Court of Justice of the European Union nullified the Privacy Shield, jeopardizing what the White House calls a $7.1 trillion economic relationship, premised on companies doing business on both sides of the pond. Friday’s executive order stipulates new ways for the EU to challenge what it had previously identified as objectionable U.S. government surveillance practices. In March, the U.S. and European Union agreed “in principle” to a revamped framework for data transfers. Continue reading White House Updates Data Protection Framework with the EU

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signaled the bloc is preparing the implement a regulatory framework for the metaverse, writing in her annual Letter of Intent for the State of the Union address that the Commission will in 2023 advance an “initiative on virtual worlds, such as metaverse.” The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, expanded on that in a blog post that Europe’s “way to foster the virtual worlds” will be threefold, focusing on “people, technologies and infrastructure,” with speculation bubbling that the third prong will involve some sort of carrier tax. Continue reading EU Hints at Introduction of Metaverse Regulations and Taxes

The European Union has released additional details of its Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), proposed cybersecurity rules initially introduced last year aimed at the growing number of smart devices and the Internet of Things. The goal is to introduce effective regulations that would help curb surging cyberattacks. Major tech companies from Apple to Amazon and LG would need to meet strict new standards in the connected electronics space or face significant fines that could run as high as the greater of $15 million or 2.5 percent of a company’s worldwide revenue. Continue reading EU’s Cyber Resilience Act Plans to Augment Security for IoT

In the wake of the European Union’s strict new digital-competition laws, Amazon has proposed settlements in two EU antitrust cases. The U.S.-based e-commerce giant says it will stop using non-public data it obtains from the activities of independent sellers on its marketplace to inform its own business decisions in competition with those sellers. A separate investigation found Amazon to be self-dealing with regard to its Buy Box and Prime plans, resulting in a commitment to give third-party sellers equal treatment. The commitments would remain in force for five years, monitored by a trustee reporting to the European Commission. Continue reading Amazon Offers Concessions to Call Off EU’s Antitrust Probes

The European Parliament has adopted two digital acts, one focused on leveling the competitive playing field, the other on protecting consumer rights online. The Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act are both expected to take effect this fall, after the European Commission signs off. “We are finally building a single digital market, the most important one in the ‘free world,’” EU commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton said Tuesday. “The same predictable rules will apply, everywhere in the EU, for our 450 million citizens, bringing everyone a safer and fairer digital space.” Continue reading EU Checks Power of Big Tech with Digital Services Regulation

The European Union unveiled a new code of practice for disinformation, a glimpse at the regulation Big Tech companies will be dealing with under upcoming digital content laws. Meta Platforms, Twitter, TikTok and Google have agreed to the new rules, which update voluntary guidelines. The revised standards direct social media companies to avoid advertising adjacent to intentionally false or misleading content. EU policymakers have said they will make parts of the new code mandatory under the Digital Services Act. Platforms agreeing to comply with the new rules must submit implementation reports by early 2023. Continue reading European Union Creates Code of Practice on Disinformation

The U.S. and European Union are seeking to establish joint policies that advance cooperation and democratic approaches to trade, technology, and security on both sides of the Atlantic. The second meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) — May 15-16 in Saclay, near Paris — emphasized how Washington, Brussels and other free-market democracies should develop a joint response to the challenges presented by dictatorships and their controlled economies. In addition to semiconductor supply chain issues, topics including China’s digital clout, export controls for technology IP and human rights were discussed. Continue reading The U.S. and European Union Strategize Global Tech Policies

European regulators on Monday hit Apple with an antitrust charge, alleging it has created a “closed system” for contactless mobile payments. The so-called statement of objections says the iPhone maker has abused its market power by favoring its Apple Pay for mobile contactless payments to the detriment of third-party services like PayPal, which reportedly helped initiate the charges. The European Commission says it has reason to believe Apple withheld access to its NFC inputs in order to suppress other mobile-wallet app developers from competing with Apple Pay, which the Commission called “a closed ecosystem.” Continue reading EU Hits Apple with Antitrust Objections Over Mobile Payments

The European Parliament and EU member states reached agreement Saturday on the proposed Digital Services Act, which aims to hold Big Tech accountable for “illegal and harmful content” and “provide better protection for Internet users and their fundamental rights, as well as define a single set of rules in the internal market.” Calling the DSA “historic, both in terms of speed and of substance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added, “the greater the size, the greater the responsibilities of online platforms.” Companies like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and others will be forced to hold the line against dangerous content and misinformation or face stiff fines. Continue reading EU Advances Digital Services Act to Hold Tech Accountable

The European Union’s pending Artificial Intelligence Act — the world’s first comprehensive effort to regulate AI — is coming under scrutiny as it moves to law. The Act proposes unplugging AI deemed a risk to society. Critics say it draws too heavily on general consumer product safety rules, overlooking unique aspects of AI, and is too closely tied to EU market law. This could limit its applicability as a template for other regions evaluating AI legislation, contravening the EU’s desired first-movers status in the digital sphere. Continue reading EU’s Sweeping AI Act Takes Tough Stance on High Risk Use