I'm still a little bit confused why the EU does not take action in this. This is definitely a monopolist overreach which has to be shutdown from the beginning
I'm still a little bit confused why the EU does not take action in this. This is definitely a monopolist overreach which has to be shutdown from the beginning
But they did. EU formally allows all these measures by Google in the name of "security" as described in Digital Markets Act Art. 6 (4) fourth paragraph.
https://www.eu-digital-markets-act.com/Digital_Markets_Act_A...
They're allowed to do it "to the extent that they are strictly necessary and proportionate ... provided that such measures are duly justified".
It remains to be seen whether the EU decides that this measure is strictly necessary, proportionate and duly justified. They sometimes do the right thing but I'm not getting my hopes up.
EU will likely want something like this for ChatControl (or whatever it's called in its current draft iteration) enforcement anyway. And Google will no doubt be happy to have its highly paid lobbyists testify on how it will help catch child predators and terrorists.
Indeed. I wonder if it falls foul of labour law. Blacklisting is illegal and whitelisting (certification) is normally done with multiple competing third party certifiers.
They'd have had to start with Apple which is more locked down and has comparable market power. Apple fans (iirc like 30% of the voter population) already scream bloody murder when compatibility increases due to legislation and Apple pushes some marketing about how terrible this is
We've accepted that OS vendors can do this for decades. I think that was our mistake: relying on Google as the only available vendor. We can't make a law that punishes Google for having been open all these years. Yes, of course I (like any 'HN' hacker, I'd think) would be in favor of forcing Apple to be open as well, but then it seems that the powers that currently run the EU (and a lot of voters) kinda likes their remote DRM attestation for this digital identification project that you'll soon need for anything not suitable for toddlers and not reachable via a darkweb
They did? There is the whole "alternative app stores" kerfuffle going on right now between Apple and the EU.
Marginally. Apple still approves every app that runs there and can block whatever they don't like for whomever they don't like (or are told to block by a US court, for example). And if you go on holiday abroad and want to take your phone, Apple refuses to tell you what the grace period is during which you're allowed to use the apps on the device.
It's as hostile as they can make it because people apparently keep buying that, even when there's no semblance of the freedoms we have on Android, Windows, Linux, BSD, etc. Google saw that this suffices for the EU and does half a step towards it and people are, unsurprisingly, appalled because the whole FOSS community is here now. I still think it started with Apple demonstrating how successfully hostile you can be in a duopoly where the cards have been dealt.
Few commercial entities will happily re-implement their apps for a third, new, upcoming platform. Google and Apple will never get outcompeted so long as their software ships on the hardware that people want. Even Microsoft (Windows Mobile predated both OSs) threw in the towel, I wouldn't know who else stands a chance. Regulating these entities seems the only path when Google has evidently decided there's no point trying to compete on openness (also demonstrated by the widespread acceptance of GrapheneOS in the FOSS community: people would rather be kept safe than be free - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48758146)
this is something the EU would love, it's part of the whole Transparency thing where you dox yourself to everyone
HNers (especially Americans) are super naive and think the EU is some bastion of freedom. no. it just wants to be a huge nanny state but in a wholesome way, where you can do whatever you want as long as it's approved