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New EU laws aim to curb ‘gatekeeping’ by big tech companies
Google is one of six companies being targeted by the European Commission
Regardless of the phone you have, there is likely software on it that you have been unable to remove. Some apps may be critical to the operation of the device, while others might be what the manufacturer prefers you to use for tasks like messaging. Now, the European Commission (EC) is holding tech companies accountable for pushing their products and services on mobile devices. Under the new Digital Markets Act (DMA), some of the world’s largest tech giants — including Alphabet — will have six months to comply with regulations designed to maintain competition.
Five years of security updates and easy repairs for all phones, propose EU lawmakers
Android phones may one day need to provide five years of security updates
New legislation in the early stages at the European Commission may see Android manufacturers extend software support and provide more straightforward repairs for smartphones. The new initiative would bring positive improvements to the industry, allowing users to own their phones for longer with improved software and the ability to repair their phone when it's aging or needs a fix.
Germany wants to extend your smartphone's lifespan with seven years of security patches
One less reason to replace your phone, but it could just be politics at play
When it comes to smartphones, we all wish updates arrived faster and for more extended periods of time. As performance continues to improve with each passing year, upgrading to a new phone every two or three years can start to feel like an unnecessary expense. It's also an environmental concern, as many try to reduce waste created from constantly replacing gadgets. To that end, the German government has proposed a new policy that would extend the lifespan — and repairability — of your device for years to come.
The EU will allow Google to acquire Fitbit, but it's laying out some conditions
The deal still requires approval in the US
It's been over a year since Google announced a $2.1 billion dollar deal to take over Fitbit, but it's been sitting in regulatory purgatory since then while the European Commission investigated the acquisition's affect on consumers and competitors. Now it looks like the EU has come to a conclusion that will allow the merger to move forward — providing that Google adheres to a set of specific guidelines about data privacy.
The EU wants to let users finally remove preinstalled apps they don't like
A draft of the Digital Services Act also includes making big tech companies share data with smaller rivals
Google has faced a lot of scrutiny in Europe. Whether it's finding fault with Google being the default search provider on Android phones to considering a ban on face recognition in public spaces, the EU generally takes a very pro-consumer focus on things. Now a series of working documents have surfaced that indicate the European Commission is considering a number of proposals that affect big tech — including a requirement that users be allowed to remove any pre-installed applications on a device.
European COVID-19 tracing apps will soon be compatible with each other
Making tracing across countries easier in the EU
Back in June, EU members agreed that their coronavirus tracing apps would need to be interoperable to make it easier to travel during the summer, hoping that this would help to trace contacts across borders to prevent a second wave. While that timeline hasn't quite worked out (summer holidays are over in most countries), the European Commission today has announced that it's finally setting up a standardized interoperability gateway for tracing apps.
The EU is hoping to enact its own "right to repair" for phones, tablets, and laptops in the region by 2021. Details are very sparse right now, and this goal only been revealed as one component of the so-called Circular Economy Action Plan, a part of the European Green Deal, a roadmap that hopes to make the region carbon neutral by 2050.
Following the EU's record antitrust ruling against Google back in 2018, the European Commission asked the company to give Android users the option to set other search engines as default. That prompted Google to take the opportunity to make even more money by auctioning which companies to feature as default search engine providers. The winners have now been published, and it looks like privacy advocate DuckDuckGo and meta search engine Info.com have taken the crown across the continent.
Google's ongoing European saga just saw a new development. After the record $5 billion antitrust fine issued by the European Commission last year, the company had to implement new screens to ask users if they wanted additional browsers and search engines on their devices, and now it's taking that one step further by making the search engine choice a default. However, as would any for-profit company do, it's using this as an opportunity to charge search providers that want to be featured.
The European Commission has just issued a fine of €242 million to Qualcomm for allegedly anti-competitive actions made by the company circa 2009-2011. The commission claims that Qualcomm abused its market position by using predatory pricing to push out competitors, selling some of its chipsets at a loss to Huawei and ZTE.
In the wake of the $5 billion antitrust fine it received from the European Commission last year, Google laid out plans to prompt Android users in Europe to choose a different default search or browser app. In a new blog post, Product Management Director Paul Gennai introduces the changes that will come as part of an imminent Google Play Store update.
As a result of new European Commission rules around the transparency of online platforms, Google already outlined planned improvements to its developer relations and communication about Play Store policy compliance. However, there are wider implications for Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others as the rules governing digital practices were approved on Wednesday.
Just this morning, we wrote about Google and the European Commission getting along, with Google proactively encouraging users to use other browsers and search engines than their own. Now, they're back at war. The Commission has fined Google €1.49 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules concerning AdSense.
Google just can't catch a break in Europe. The US company has been fined $7.6 billion in the last few years over Android and Search practices, and now the EU is preparing a new penalty regarding what it views as anticompetitive AdSense contracts.
Google's legal troubles in Europe continue as a European Commission court has accepted an injunction filed by alternative app store Aptoide. The antitrust complaint came after Google used Play Protect to warn users that Aptoide was potentially harmful.
This morning, Google was hit with an enormous $5.06 billion fine for what the European Commission considers to be anti-competitive practices — specifically, those that push users toward Google's own apps and services. CEO Sundar Pichai has penned a response that outlines where the company disagrees, pointing out the ease with which users can install alternatives to Google's pre-loaded apps, and making clear that the company plans to appeal the Commission's decision.
The amount Google must pay the European Commission for its latest antitrust fine has now been revealed as a record 4.34 billion euros ($5.06 billion). That figure dwarfs the $2.7 billion fine Google previously received for giving preferential treatment to its own shopping comparison tools in searches.
In a plenary session at the European Parliament yesterday, there was an interesting conversation about consumer electronics that could lead to some very positive legislation for smartphone buyers in Europe. MEPs discussed how to ensure that goods and software are easier to repair and update. Essentially, they want to tackle the industry propensity towards planned obsolescence and regular upgrades.
Last April the European Commission, the EU's executive body, issued a statement criticizing Google's management of Android. The Commission accused Google of facilitating monopolistic practices, specifically by tying the Play Store, the Android version of Chrome, and other common Google apps to Google's Search services among licensed Android manufacturers. Keeping manufacturers from releasing forks of Android as a condition of participating in the Google ecosystem - a process which Google calls "anti-fragmentation" - was also an issue. It took a while, but Google has finally published a full response to the Commission.
Google is no stranger to legal conflict in Europe: between accusations of monopolistic practices with Android and web search tools, to a forced implementation of the European Union's "right to be forgotten" laws, to butting heads with German privacy advocates over Street View data, it's safe to say that the company's relationship with the continent is... complicated. The latest complication comes from the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, which will reportedly hand down an unprecedented fine over Google's alleged violations of antitrust laws.