Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The U.K. Holds Firm in the Fight for Fair Competition With the DMCC Act, But It's Not Over Yet

24/05/2024

For more than a year, the U.K. government has been working to redefine how the internet works in the U.K., giving consumers greater choice and control over their digital lives and empowering small businesses to have a fair shot at competing with online giants. Having been rightly prioritized as the most important bill to be finalized before the U.K. prepares for a general election, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) is now law. It promises to revolutionize the U.K. digital landscape, forcing Big Tech companies like Apple to compete fairly for consumers' business and opening up unprecedented opportunities for creators across the U.K. to thrive.

Done right, the DMCC can have manifold benefits. For consumers, the DMCC makes the digital marketplace more competitive, lowering prices and giving them more choice and control. For businesses and creators, it delivers the opportunities they need to grow, compete, and succeed. And for the U.K. as a whole, it makes the country a more globally competitive and attractive place to do business.

But even with the law now firmly in place, the fight isn't over.

As Spotify's Founder & CEO Daniel Ek points out, Apple has spent millions-in country after country-trying to circumvent and make a mockery of laws like the DMCC. They've already broken rules in the U.S., Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, and Europe. The DMCC has the potential to unlock real competition and growth and Apple must be held accountable in the U.K. because we cannot miss the opportunity to get it right.

Similar to the DMCC, the E.U.'s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was supposed to end the unfair stifling of innovation that Apple had tried to disguise as security protections. But in response to the law, Apple has purposefully created an alternative to the status quo of the 30% commission fee it charges for in-app purchases. They now force developers to pay Apple a 0.50 fee for every customer download, in addition to a recurring 17% digital goods fee for every purchase made. Under the DMA, developers would now owe Apple millions if their apps were to go viral.

Dustee Jenkins, Spotify's Chief Public Affairs Officer, said, We were proud of Europe for leading the way and assumed Apple would have no choice but to comply with the law. But we were wrong-it's not been enough. This can't be allowed to happen in the U.K. It would undermine this world-leading piece of legislation, harming consumers and businesses across the country. Learnings have to be taken from Apple's continued bad behavior around the world and the DMCC has to be implemented quickly and forcefully to break Apple's stranglehold on the market.

With the DMCC now enforceable, the U.K. has an Apple-shaped target on its back. For the DMCC to work as those who have designed it intended, the following must also occur:

The App Store and iOS should be designated promptly, with this designation being the first focus of the Digital Markets Unit (DMU). Apple themselves have even acknowledged the shortcomings in their App Store to increase competition. App stores are often people's main gateway to the internet, and the competition regulator has already found that Apple's anti-competitive behavior is costing U.K. consumers billions.

Action should be taken as soon as possible with eyes open to the likelihood that Apple will fight tooth and nail to avoid opening up to competition. The longer this takes, the more this is costing businesses and consumers and threatening the future of U.K. tech innovation.

Importantly, the regulator has political backing to use its powers as robustly as possible to enforce the regulation.

The DMCC is the first step in giving power back to U.K. consumers. The U.K. now has the opportunity to lead the fight against Apple's market dominance and show the rest of the world how it's done.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-05-24/the-u-k-holds-firm-in-the-figh...
See more stories from spotify

Europe Stories

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

22/05/2025

Team Vortex races ahead with Calrec's support

Calrec fuels young talent by backing local students in the F1 in Schools programme...

22/05/2025

SES Space & Defense to Provide Hybrid Space-Based Architecture to U.S. Department of Defense

Secure integrated multi-orbit network (SIMON ) delivered by SES Space & Defense ...

22/05/2025

Zurich Instruments and Rohde & Schwarz to back the National Quantum Computing Testbed Facility in Australia

Zurich Instruments and Rohde & Schwarz to back the National Quantum Computing Te...

22/05/2025

Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Day 2025: Connecting the world with New Space and 5G NTN technologies

Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Day 2025: Connecting the world with New Space...

22/05/2025

Riedel Premieres Easy5G and RefCam Live Systems in High-Profile Bundesliga Soccer Matchup

Wuppertal May 22, 2025 Riedel Premieres Easy5G and RefCam Live Systems in High...

22/05/2025

Harmonic Showcases Breakthrough Solutions to Drive Premium Broadband Experiences at Fiber Connect 2025

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 22, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that t...

22/05/2025

Introducing RedNet TNX

Introducing RedNet TNX We're pleased to introduce RedNet TNX, the latest addition to the RedNet range and our first Thunderbolt interface specifically de...

22/05/2025

RT to Commission All Christian Worship Content from the Independent Sector

In line with the published New Direction strategy, RT has launched a commissioning process that will see all Christian Worship content on RT 's video platf...

22/05/2025

Thales Reinforces Commitment to Malaysia at LIMA 2025 with New Leadership and Contracts Awarded

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn As a strategic partner in helping Malaysia achie...

22/05/2025

Tonight on RT Prime Time, the reality behind online negative masculinity

Prime Time speaks to Charleen Murphy, an influencer whose online harassment turned into a real-world attack Tonight, Prime Time hosts a special programme focus...

22/05/2025

RT Today show and Mercier Press announce the winner of new novelist competition

RT 's Today show, in conjunction with Ireland's oldest publishing house Mercier Press, have announced Ireland's newest published author. Rebecca M...

21/05/2025

Spotify Electrifies CMA Fest 2025: Here's All You Need To Know

When CMA Fest springs to life in Nashville each year, Spotify House is always one of the top destinations-and 2025 will be no different. For the sixth year, Spo...

21/05/2025

A New Way for Fans To Get Hyped for New Albums Is Here-Meet the Upcoming Releases Hub

Marking a first, Spotify has launched the Upcoming Releases hub-a destination so...

21/05/2025

SGL Carbon Annual General Meeting elects new Supervisory Board member

At todays Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of SGL Carbon SE discharged the Board of Management and Supervisory Board for the 2024 fiscal year and approv...

21/05/2025

Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida Enhances Intercom Infrastructure

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/05/2025

Blue Man Group Puts Clear-Com's FreeSpeak Icon to the Test in Las Vegas

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/05/2025

VOICE-NO! Brits call time on long voice notes

Wednesday 21 May 2025 Brits call for voice notes to be capped at two minutes after research reveals the nation is suffering from VNF - Voice Note Fatigue Voice...

21/05/2025

ElastiFlow and Rohde & Schwarz collaborate to deliver unmatched network traffic insights

ElastiFlow and Rohde & Schwarz collaborate to deliver unmatched network traffic ...

21/05/2025

Arvato Systems receives gold award at Service Provider Award in the category AI as a Service Provider

Arvato Systems Receives Gold Award at Service Provider Award in the Category AI...

21/05/2025

RT appoints Eleanor O'Shaughnessy as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer

RT is pleased to announce the appointment of Eleanor O'Shaughnessy as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRCO), following a public competition. Eleanor bri...

21/05/2025

Tawazun Council and Thales Sign Agreement to Establish Ground Master Air Surveillance Radar Production Facility in UAE

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn As part of the Tawazun Economic Program, Thales ...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solut...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS. Vienna, Austria. May 9th, 2025 ToolsOnAir, a leading provider of broadcast...

20/05/2025

Six Captivating Audiobooks Amplify Asian and Pacific Islander Artists

Throughout the month of May, Spotify is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by amplifying the many artists, creators, and authors who share th...

20/05/2025

Songs of Summer 2025: Spotify's Global Editors Predicts the Anthems That Will Soundtrack the Season

It's officially summer on Spotify and, once again, our team of best-in-class...

20/05/2025

2025-04-04

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in A...

20/05/2025

Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park, Deepening Commitment to Uzbekistan's Digital Future

20 May 2025 Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park...

20/05/2025

The Marlow Murder Club returns for a thrilling third series

Praise for series two: Daily Mail - 5* It's a murder mystery masterclass Heat - 4* Marlow's giving Midsomer a run for its murder money Daily Tele...

20/05/2025

Sky releases official teaser for Sky Exclusive drama series IT: Welcome to Derry, coming this Autumn

Tuesday 20 May 2025 To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To ...

20/05/2025

Cignal TV Unlocks Video Streaming and Broadcast Efficiency with Harmonic's Cloud-Native Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 19, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that C...

20/05/2025

Harmonic Elevates the Broadband Experience with Innovation at ANGA COM 2025

SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 20, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that the company will showcase breakthrough broadband innovations at ANGA COM 2025. P...

20/05/2025

2025-05-20

Today, Apple unveiled an exciting lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the Keynote and Platforms State of the Union. Taking p...

19/05/2025

Fresh Finds Turns 10: Cheers to a Decade of Indie Artist Success

For the past decade, Spotify's Fresh Finds playlists have served as a launchpad for emerging independent artists, helping them break through and connect wit...

19/05/2025

Experience true spectrum dominance in all domains with Rohde & Schwarz at DSEI Japan 2025

Experience true spectrum dominance in all domains with Rohde & Schwarz at DSEI J...

19/05/2025

RT publishes Register of External Activities for Q4 2024 (statistical summary)

RT is today publishing a statistical summary from the Register of External Activities for the fourth quarter of 2024. The RT Register of External Activities ...

19/05/2025

Thales to provide a cyber-secured and AI-powered autonomous mine countermeasures system to the Republic of Singapore Navy

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The unique, sea-proven Pathmaster solution will ...

19/05/2025

Thales, Radiall and FoxConn have initiated preliminary discussions on semiconductor production

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales, Radiall and FoxConn announce they have i...

18/05/2025

RT ALL-IRELAND DRAMA FESTIVAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED DURING GALA AWARDS STREAMED LIVE ON RTE.IE/CULTURE

Ballyduff Drama Group from Co. Waterford Scoops Top Award in 2025 RT All-Irelan...

17/05/2025

Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month With Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks That Illuminate a Wealth of Cultural Diversity

Globally, Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists, creators, and authors contin...

16/05/2025

New Study Reveals Changing Audience Behaviours in Eastern Europe

Across Central and Eastern Europe, journalism is no longer the default source of information. It competes and often loses against a chaotic content stream drive...

16/05/2025

Entries Open for the 2025 EU Investigative Journalism Award

Journalists working in investigative reporting across the Western Balkans and T rkiye are encouraged to enter their published work for the 2025 edition of the E...

16/05/2025

Celebrate Beyonc's COWBOY CARTER Tour With Exclusive Cover Art Stickers

As Beyonc s COWBOY CARTER Tour sparks excitement around the world, Spotify is helping the BeyHive get concert-ready with a limited-edition collection of playli...

16/05/2025

Mark Gatiss drama Bookish re-commissioned for a second series ahead of premiere on U&alibi

UKTV today announces the re-commission of Bookish (6x70') for specialist cri...

16/05/2025

Sky releases Official Trailer and Key Art for Sky Exclusive film Mountainhead, written and directed by Jesse Armstrong

Friday 16 May 2025 To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To d...

16/05/2025

RT Live at Bord Bia Bloom 2025: Live shows, live music and chat, live RT Weather, and much more

Live RT Radio 1 shows with Louise Duffy, Countrywide and Mooney Goes Wild RT ...

15/05/2025

X-Rite Launches CiF3200 Imaging Benchtop Spectrophotometer for Precision Small-Spot Color Measurement

X-Rite Launches CiF3200 Imaging Benchtop Spectrophotometer for Precision Small-S...

15/05/2025

VEON 1Q25 Earnings Release: Strong Start to 2025, Digital Revenues Surge 50%, Driving Growth

15 May 2025 VEON 1Q25 Earnings Release: Strong Start to 2025, Digital Revenues ...