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Welcome to Euractiv’s Tech Brief, a weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
“Today, the Commission has decided to accept the commitments made by Apple. These commitments address our initial concerns that Apple may have unlawfully restricted competition in relation to mobile wallets on the iPhone.”
– Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said at a briefing on Thursday.
This week’s story: The European Commission on Thursday legally required Apple to fulfill its commitments to address competition concerns raised by its refusal to provide competitors with near-field communication (NFC) technology for contactless payments. Since the Commission decided to legally require Apple to fulfill these commitments, Apple will open up the ecosystem to competitors and the company has now avoided further antitrust scrutiny in the field. read more.
do not miss it: In preliminary findings published on Friday, the European Commission accused social media platform X of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) due to its insufficient verification account policies and transparency. These are the first preliminary findings of the European Commission under the DSA. The Commission identified three issues of non-compliance with the Act to which Company X may respond. If the company’s response is unsatisfactory, the Commission may impose a fine of up to 6% of Company X’s annual worldwide turnover. read more.
Also this week:
- EU Commission launches investigation into Amazon’s recommendation system
- XNXX joins list of porn sites subject to EU digital rules
- Experts say disinformation is more rampant in the run-up to national elections than in EU vote
AI
Hello, AI Act! Friday, Artificial Intelligence Act release It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will come into force on August 1.
U.S. tech trade group calls for unified single market for AI lawThe U.S. Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) released a report on Wednesday. Position Paper How to support the development of artificial intelligence in the EUCalls for the successful implementation of the AI Act through the single market and promoting legal clarity.
Microsoft and Apple give up seats on OpenAI’s board of directors. Microsoft gave up its board observer seat at OpenAI to address antitrust concerns in the United States and Britain about its influence over the artificial intelligence startup, while Apple will not accept the seat as planned. Financial Times The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) still doesn’t believe this will solve all the problems. Reuters Reported Wednesday.
Samsung’s AI capabilities. Samsung has introduced new AI features in its latest foldable smartphones, the Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6, such as a “listening mode” for simultaneous interpretation. Reuters Reported Wednesday. In June this year, Apple also Announce iOS18’s AI features, but stop Three of the products could not be launched in the EU due to “regulatory uncertainty” caused by the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Manufacturers and GenAI. A Lucidworks study found that manufacturers are slowing down their adoption of generative AI due to accuracy issues. Reuters Reported Wednesday. A study of more than 2,500 AI decision makers found that 55% of manufacturers believe they are keeping pace with industry peers in AI adoption, despite only 20% of planned AI projects being implemented last year.
Bumble’s AI photos. Bumble has launched a new reporting option that allows users to flag profiles suspected of using AI-generated photos and videos. TechCrunch Reported Tuesday.
US senators discuss AI copyright issues. Four bipartisan U.S. senators Introduction A bill introduced Thursday aims to increase transparency and copyright protections for artificial intelligence.
competition
Microsoft Edge and DMA. Opera browser court justice European Union The committee’s February decision this The committee’s February decision Excluding Microsoft Edge from the list of essential services operated by the tech giant, Designated as gatekeeperAccording to reports on Friday Press release. The press release stated: “Because Edge is not designated as a gatekeeper service under DMA, the popular Windows operating system is still able to make it difficult for users to choose and continue to use other browsers as the system default, and it has been treating its own browser Edge in a preferential manner.”
Data and Privacy
New GDPR complaints. Microsoft subsidiary Xandr is facing a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) complaint from privacy group noyb over its handling of personal data in its targeted advertising business. Announce On Tuesday, Noyb said it collected and shared sensitive user data, such as health and political views, for real-time bidding, but that the data often contained inaccurate or contradictory information.
Digital Markets Act
Civil society and Apple. In a joint statement, a group of civil society organizations criticized Apple for not complying with the DMA, particularly the App Store. submit The proposal, released on Monday, calls on the European Commission to swiftly make a non-compliance determination against Apple and impose a fine.
Digital Services Act
Amazon’s recommendation system. According to a press release last Friday, the European Commission also sent an information request to Amazon, asking it to provide information on the measures it has taken to comply with the landmark EU content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA). Amazon will provide information on the transparency of its recommendation system by July 26, including data inputs, and opt-out options for users who do not want to be analyzed by the algorithm. The e-commerce giant was also asked to answer questions about its Amazon Store advertising library, including a risk assessment report. read more.
The new VLOP name. On Wednesday, the European Commission designated porn platform XNXX as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a content moderation regulation. The European Commission designated porn site XNXX as a VLOP, the fourth VLOP in the adult website industry, following Xvideos, Pornhub and Stripchat in December last year. XNXX now has until mid-November to comply with the most stringent requirements of the DSA or face a fine of up to 6% of its global turnover. read more.
Pornhub has no lags. The EU General Court rejected Pornhub’s request to postpone the publication of advertiser details under the DSA, arguing that the law is essential to ensure a safe online environment. Pornhub’s operator Aylo faces financial risks but no existential threat from the requirement, which affects 99% of its advertising revenue. Trace Elements Reported Last Thursday. The article said that the court rejected concerns that leaking advertiser information could harm competition or jeopardize Pornhub’s operations, emphasizing compliance with EU digital regulations.
law enforcement
Swedish-French influence. Sweden and France push for changes to crackdown Online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), context Reported Monday, based on document From June 14. deleted The agenda from the June 20 meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), on which they were supposed to vote.
platform
Disinformation in EU and national elections. Disinformation experts have recently published a report stating that levels of disinformation in recent national elections in France and the UK were higher than in the European elections. read more.
SHEIN’s new investment. Online fashion retailer SHEIN will invest €250 million in the UK and EU over five years in a bid to promote the circular economy and support local entrepreneurs. Announce Wednesday.
Meta’s policy updates. Meta will now remove posts that use the word “Zionist” as well as anti-Semitic tropes or dehumanizing statements. CNN Reported Tuesday.
telecommunications
Germany will exclude high-risk Chinese suppliers from its telecommunications industry by 2029. The following The European Commission and some member states have promoted German Interior Minister Nancy Fesser announced on Thursday that the German government has agreed to phase out high-risk Chinese vendors from 5G networks by 2029. The move comes four years after the European Union launched a 5G toolbox urging member states to exclude Huawei and ZTE from building sensitive telecommunications networks. Committee ReportBy June 2023, only 10 of the 27 EU member states had implemented restrictive measures.
Is Meta’s partnership with Vodafone the way to resolve the fair share debate? Meta and Vodafone Optimizing short video delivery On European mobile networks, the aim is to optimise data traffic while maintaining quality to meet the growing demand for short-form digital services such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. David Friedlander, CEO of CCIA Europe (Computer and Communications Industry Association) This means that this is the solution Network investment driven by big tech digital services has led to a debate over the sender pays principle or fair share taxation in 2023.
Cloud, stability. EU cloud providers and Microsoft have reached a settlement in a software licensing dispute dating back to 2022, with CISPE, the association representing the cloud providers, and Microsoft Announce Thursday. Under the settlement, Microsoft has nine months to develop a service that would allow CISPE members to run applications on its services and on-premises cloud infrastructure for the same price. The decision comes less than three weeks after CISPE announced its application licensing agreement on Dec. 23, 2019. EU Commission accuses Microsoft of violating antitrust rules by bundling Teams appMicrosoft Vice Chairman Brad Smith said the company will take additional interoperability steps.
Ukraine gets another roaming extension. Committee Announce Ukraine’s roaming agreement with the European Union was extended for a fifth time on Wednesday. Ukraine has made progress towards joining the EU roaming area, but has not yet fully achieved it. read more.
What else we’re reading this week:
Students launch TikTok group attack on teachers, shocking school (New York Times）
Elon Musk’s Neuralink is ready to implant a second volunteer (wired）
Democrats accuse FCC commissioner of involvement in 2025 projectWashington post）
(Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic)
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