Apple and Microsoft dispute the status of iMessage and Bing in the EU

Microsoft and Apple are reportedly seeking to keep Bing and iMessage, respectively, off the list of “gatekeepers” subject to new European regulations. Financial Times Reports Both companies privately (and separately) argue that their services are not large or powerful enough to justify the restrictions of the Digital Markets Act, a rule designed to promote competition in the technology space.

The European Commission is due to publish a list of designated gatekeepers on September 6, naming the companies generally as well as the specific services they provide. These powerful platforms, defined on the basis of their revenues and user numbers, will be required to meet a large number of interoperability and competition rules. It is already known that Apple and Microsoft – along with Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, ByteDance and Samsung – are on the list, but the committee will have to decide which parts of their empires to cover. Once the EU appoints its guards, they will have six months, or until March 2024, to comply with DMA rules.

according to footMicrosoft is “unlikely” to argue that its Windows platform meets the definition of a gatekeeper, but it argues that Bing’s relatively small share of the search market (compared to its better-known rival Google) can only diminish further if it has to do things like… Give users access to competing search engines.

Likewise, Apple is said to be working on methods that would open up iOS to third-party app stores and sideloading to comply with the expected rules. but foot The company argues, she says iMessage doesn’t reach the DMA user limit of 45 million monthly active users, so it shouldn’t have to interact with other messaging services. like foot Although Apple has not revealed official numbers, external estimates indicate that iMessage may have one billion users around the world.

The DMA is part of a set of EU laws designed to limit the power of technology companies. The Digital Services Act, which focuses on how platforms handle user data and supervision, came into effect late last month.