Here we go again: the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT) is calling for smart TV platforms and virtual assistants to be designated as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Marketing Act (DMA), reports Reuters.
ACT says Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung’s smart TVs and virtual assistants should fall under the EU’s toughest tech rules because of their growing market power. The group represents the interests of leading commercial broadcasters present across the European Union and beyond. The ACT member companies finance, produce, promote and distribute content and services across all platforms.
The DMA is a European Union regulation, effective as of May 2023, designed to make digital markets fairer and more contestable by curbing the power of major online platforms, known as “gatekeepers.” It imposes strict obligations on large tech companies—such as Apple—to allegedly prevent them from abusing their market position, thereby fostering competition and enhancing consumer choice.
The EU is an economic and political union of 27 democratic European nations, created in 1993 to “foster peace, stability, and economic prosperity.” It operates a single market allowing free movement of goods, services, capital, and people, with a shared currency, the euro, used by many members
On an optimistic note for Apple, in February, the European Commission — the EU’s main executive body — said the tech giant’s Maps and Ads services won’t be designated as gatekeepers under the EU’s Digital Markets Act due to their relatively low usage and limited market impact in Europe.
“The Commission has concluded that Apple does not qualify as a gatekeeper in relation to Apple Ads and Apple Maps, as neither of these platform services constitute an important gateway for business users to reach end users,” it said in a statement.
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