``Digital Market Law'' legislation to end unfair harmful behavior of Google and Amazon to be approved by overwhelming majority



Legislation of the new bill `` Digital Market Law '' discussed by the European Commission (EC) as `` existing rules are not working well for giant technology companies '' will be released on November 23, 2021 (Tuesday) , was approved by an overwhelming majority of 42 votes in favor, 2 against and 1 abstention. The bill includes a ban on behavioral targeting for minors and a ban on dark patterns where companies intentionally deceive users.

Digital Markets Act: ending unfair practices of big online platforms | News | European Parliament
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20211118IPR17636/digital-markets-act-ending-unfair-practices-of-big-online-platforms

EU Parliament Takes First Step Towards a Fair and Interoperable Market | Electronic Frontier Foundation
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/11/eu-parliament-takes-first-step-towards-fair-and-interoperable-market

EU Parliament committee brings consumer interest forward in Digital Markets Act | www.beuc.eu
https://www.beuc.eu/publications/eu-parliament-committee-brings-consumer-interest-forward-digital-markets-act/html

The market monopoly by giant technology companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook has become a problem, and at the end of 2020, the European Commission (EU) enacted the 'Digital Services Act' to curb the power of these big tech companies. proposed the Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. The Digital Services Act requires a wide range of online intermediaries to remove illegal content, while the Digital Markets Act is designed to prevent companies that fall under the category of 'gatekeepers' from taking anti-competitive behavior, such as prioritizing themselves. purpose.

The EU proposes a ``digital market law'' and a ``digital service law'' that impose a maximum of 10% of revenue as a fine on Google, Amazon, etc.-GIGAZINE



And on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, the draft of the Digital Market Law was passed. The contents of the draft include:

- Enterprise messaging and social media apps must be interoperable, avoiding situations in which users are forced to choose one app over another because 'my friend is here.'
・Prohibition of behavioral targeting of minors.
- Penalties of up to 20% of a company's global annual turnover for violations of the new law.
・Consumer consent is required to aggregate data collected from multiple services in one place. In addition, it is prohibited to provide low-quality services to users who have refused aggregation.
・Prohibition of “dark patterns” that intentionally deceive users.
• Restrictions on killer takeovers.
・Assurance that consumers will promptly file a class action lawsuit if a company violates digital market laws.

In addition, the criteria for whether or not a person is a gatekeeper have been published. Among the major companies providing 'core platform services' such as online brokerage services, social networks and search engines, Gatekeeper offers services in at least three EU countries, with more than 45 million monthly end-users and business The number of users must be 10,000 or more. At the time of article creation, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Booking.com are included.

``It's time for EU institutions to stand up for consumers and bring healthy fairness and openness to the digital market,'' said Monique Goyens of the European Consumer Organization (BEUC). “We have learned from past experience that regulation takes too long to implement and that fines are meaningless for big, well-funded tech companies. It may change from ,' he said.

Google was fined more than 300 billion yen for giving preferential treatment to its own service in the product search service 'Google Shopping', but this judgment was made 12 years after the investigation. Goyens is referring to cases like this, where protracted court cases are believed to have a negative impact on consumers without correcting corporate behavior.

Google has been fined over 300 billion yen, due to losing the trial on market monopoly in the EU - GIGAZINE



The European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) has agreed to create direct and immediate bans and obligations on gatekeepers, tightening restrictions on companies' favoring their own products It is expected. In addition, after a vote on the draft at the plenary session in December 2021, negotiations with EU member states and the Commission will begin in 2022, and the law is scheduled to come into force in 2022. .

in Web Service, Posted by darkhorse_log