EU DMA Is For Real

July 10th, 2024Dan Yoder

When the EU’s DMA and its cousin, the DSA, passed in 2022, I was surprised. First, it had gone from a proposal to law in less than two years. Second, and more to the point, from what I could tell (not being a lawyer), it looked like a serious attempt to regulate Big Tech. I had always believed it would take much longer for that to happen.

Still, I waited to see how it would play out: perhaps there would be loopholes, or maybe the EU wouldn’t enforce the rules. After all, Big Tech has plenty of cash to spread around.

The first indication that the DMA was for real was when Apple reversed course after initially disabling PWAs in iOS. The second was when the EU charged Apple with violating the DMA by “violating developers’ rights.” A ruling is due in March 2025, and fines can be as high as 10% of Apple’s worldwide revenue. Based on their 2023 revenue, that would be over $38B.

We’ll see how it plays out, but the mere threat of a fine that large, coupled with the no-nonsense process the DMA lays out for enforcement, may coerce Big Tech into compliance. In turn, this could make the DMA the de facto regulatory framework worldwide. Firms would otherwise need special variants of their platforms for each regulatory environment. Perhaps they will do so, but, in many cases, it’s hard to even know what that would mean.

Update: They’ve also charged Microsoft.

Update: I don’t know if the EU is entirely serious, but Apple sure seems to think so.