this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2023

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327

EU unveils ‘revolutionary’ laws to curb big tech firms’ power - The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

58 comments fedilink hide all child comments

New regulations will target six major tech companies to improve consumer experience and data privacy. These include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft.
Pre-installed apps like weather and email that are difficult to delete will be disallowed, aiming to promote interoperability and reduce "gatekeeping" activities.
Companies will be prohibited from monetizing user data collected from phone apps for advertising purposes.
The regulations will encourage competition by allowing alternative payment systems, benefiting startups and consumers.
The European Commission aims to empower consumers and ensure tech giants adhere to European rules, providing immediate accountability for any issues.

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[+] [email protected] -10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't really understand how this is a material change from what AOSP gives you right now? Can anyone explain?

For example: AOSP has been available to EU start-ups for over a decade for free and open source but none have built alternative payment systems or email or maps or advertising services on top of it in a cohesive way before. What is this law going to allow them to do that they couldn't before? 🤔

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stock Android on every phone sold in EU will have to offer those features. There's a big difference for a start up between targeting AOSP and targeting all Android phones in EU. That's exactly the point of this law: making gatekeepr devices/services equally accessible to competition.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Stock Android is AOSP. And it's free.

I'm not sure why EU start-ups don't just build services on top and compete like Huawei does in China or to a certain extent Amazon does with its Android variant.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're confusing start ups making phones with start ups offering services. If you want to sell phones yes, you can sell phones with AOSP or Lineage OS, no problem. If you're a start up that sells Map application you're competing with google and their app can't be removed from phones that most people have. Most google apps can't be removed. This is about equal access to the platform most people use, not offering alternative platform.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok that's strange I can uninstall and disable Google Maps just fine in my phone right now and install an alternative Map provider of I wanted. Didn't need legislation to do it.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's a huge difference between things you can do on some devices where the manufacturer decided to allow it and things required by the legislation.

Good thing you don't need this legislation. 99% of other users will still benefit from it.

[+] [email protected] -9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What's the principle here? That manufactures aren't allowed to tailor the user experience of their products? That doesn't sound like good legislation. The equivalent would be if I wanted to bring my steering wheel from Toyota to my Audi because it promotes competition.

The regulations will encourage competition by allowing alternative payment systems, benefiting startups and consumers.

Car manufacturers must be compelled by the EU to provide pluggable and safe steering columns in cars to benefitting startups and consumers.

Obviously such a thing wouldn't happen because it wouldn't benefit EU car manufacturers. But let's not talk about that, eh?

Let consumers vote with their feet. Let them choose alternatives that work for them. If there aren't decent alternatives, build them. Why go heavy handed on legislation thinly veiled to extort money out of companies? Seriously why not build a competing payment system for the EU? The APIs are available and there's tonnes of talented engineers in the EU. Start there. Build something better.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You clearly don't understand the entire concept of gatekeeper companies. Read the article, it's explained there.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stock Android is AOSP + Google Apps, which is a part that has become so integral to Android that you wouldn't be comfortable with actually running just AOSP anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Stock Android = AOSP

Google Android = AOSP + Play Services

I totally accept that Google Android is the defacto Android. But to claim that people can't build competing services based on AOSP is just wrong. Just take Huawei as an example. That's all the EU needs to push. EU Android with EU specific services. They could build it now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

First of all, phones aren't sold with AOSP.

They're not. But my point is that EU manufacturers / start-ups could easily make their own flavour of Android based on AOSP and launch that as a product. Why don't they? Case in point Huawei.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I think the argument is that the monopoly is present because it's basically pointless outside of China to launch a phone without play services. So while you can release a phone based on AOSP, it's not going to be successful financially without the Google apps and tweaks from Play Services