Apple and Microsoft argue with Brussels over EU digital market rules

Apple and Microsoft are arguing with Brussels over whether iMessage and Bing should be classified as gatekeepers under the new European legislation, writes Financial Times.

We are talking about the Digital Markets Act (DMA). If companies meet certain criteria set by this document, they fall into the category of “gatekeepers”. These are companies with a certain level of high turnover in Europe and the number of users.

The law imposes many obligations on gatekeepers. For example, they will be prohibited from favoring their own services over those of competitors and from “locking” users into their ecosystem.

On the eve of the publication of the list of services to be regulated by European law, Apple and Microsoft assure that iMessage and Bing are not popular enough to receive this status.

According to sources in the know, Apple claims that iMessage does not meet the threshold of the number of users for the application of the rules. Therefore, the company believes that it does not have to fulfill obligations that include opening the service to competing applications.

Instead, Microsoft rejects the idea that Bing should be subject to the same obligations as Google Search.

Brussels is still discussing the inclusion of iMessage and Bing in the final list. The European Commission may launch a review to determine whether these services should “face” new obligations under the DMA.