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Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The European Commission has concluded investigations into Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing, Edge, and Advertising services.
- The companies are not designated as gatekeepers for these core platform services under the Digital Markets Act, so they do not have to comply with strict interoperability rules.
- As a result, Apple no longer has to roll out iMessage in the EU, but the company pre-emptively announced RCS support in its iOS Messages app.
Apple’s iMessage was under investigation by the European Commission to determine whether the service falls under antitrust laws as envisaged by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). There have been rumors that the EU is leaning toward exempting iMessage from these antitrust laws. Today, the European Commission formally announced that it has not designated Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing, Edge, and Advertising services as gatekeepers for core platform services under the DMA. This means you don’t have to expose these services to your competitors.
As announced by the European Commission via press release (h/t The Verge), Apple and Microsoft are not designated as “gatekeepers” for core platform services such as iMessage, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising. Both Microsoft and Apple can rest assured that this decision concludes the European Commission’s investigation. However, the European Commission notes that this does not affect the designation of “gatekeepers” for other core platform services. The previous decision continues to affect Apple’s App Store, Safari, iOS, and Microsoft’s Windows, and the investigation into iPadOS is ongoing.
The DMA will enter into force in the EU on March 7, 2024. Under this law, core platform services operated by gatekeepers such as the App Store, Safari, and iOS must comply with several new obligations, including platform interoperability. Using third party services. Apple has announced sweeping changes aimed at the EU (only) to comply with the provisions set out in the DMA, but critics are unhappy with the move, calling it “malicious compliance” in some cases. It is called.
Prior to this decision, Apple announced that RCS support would be coming to the Messages app on iOS and work alongside iMessage. Had the EU ruled differently, Apple would have been forced to open up iMessage to others and allow interoperability with Android, perhaps ending the “Blue Bubble vs. Green Bubble” texting wars. He would have been hit. As of now, there is no end in sight.
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