New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
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Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#2Yeah, and trade certain security for certain freedom?
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#3For those wondering what exactly it means:
> (fa) allow end users, business users, providers and potential providers of on line social networking services access to and interoperability with the same industry-standard service features that are available or used in the provision by the gatekeeper of any social networking services; minimum interoperability requirements shall be in accordance with the relevant Union legislation or the industry standard, where applicable, by providing open standards, open protocols, including Application Programming Interface;
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#4Yeah, and trade certain security for certain freedom?
They could implement EXACTLY the same security requirements via a public-facing API as they do via their existing "private" API. How would that be trading security? lack of obscurity?
Clearly they cant be expected to integrate with any 3rd party, so the expectation is that 3rd parties would integrate with them.
You can do this at present via their private API (as per pidgin, etc) - but thats against their terms of service. It seems this law will prevent them imposing such terms.
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#5This is almost too good to actually go through. Protocol transparency, that is to say forcing companies to open up their APIs would be one of the simplest and effective ways to break platform effects and walled gardens.
It shouldn't just be limited to messaging. An internet where everyone can built a client against Facebook's API, or Youtube or what have you and users get actual choice and control about how they consume those services would be a big leap forward.
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#6This is a step in the right direction. I'm pretty certain that they will make their open APIs a pain in the ass to work with so that nobody actually uses it but they still comply with the law.
So, I think further revisions of this law will somehow need to take this into account.
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#7This is going to make it difficult for small startups to compete.
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#8This is going to make it difficult for small startups to compete.
Why? (Note that the idea is to force the big players to allow interop with small ones, but small startups are not forced to do anything.)
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#9This is a step in the right direction. I'm pretty certain that they will make their open APIs a pain in the ass to work with so that nobody actually uses it but they still comply with the law. So, I think further revisions of this law will somehow need to take this into account.
Digital Markets Act give very broad executive powers to EU Commission to make sure that it will get implemented.
They don't need to change law to address issues.
Specifically:
- article 7: Compliance with obligations for gatekeepers
- article 10: Updating obligations for gatekeepers and
- article 11: Anti-circumvention
Re: New EU law could require iMessage and WhatsApp to work with other platforms
#10It's hard to be optimistic about this. Regulators, lawmakers and courts are working with very blunt instruments and making up for it by being gentle.
Whether or not they succeed at improving choice and reducing centralised power over comms is up to dumb luck, mostly.