Epic Games CEO blasts Google for "malicious compliance" with EU's Digital Markets Act

[DragonSlayer101]

What just happened? Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has sharply criticized Google for what he considers feeble attempts to comply with the requirements of the European Union's Digital Markets Act. This anti-monopoly law aims to prevent large tech companies from abusing their market power to the detriment of competitors and consumers.

Sweeney called Google's updated Play Store policies "malicious compliance" and accused the company of using "scare screens" and imposing "a new Google Tax on web transactions" to avoid opening up their ecosystem to third-party payment services. According to him, "No gatekeeper should be allowed to impose fees for services not provided. It's a transparent exercise in self-preferencing and monopoly rent extraction. Epic will fight on."

The strongly worded tweet comes a few weeks after Sweeney levied similar charges against Apple for its updated Apple Store policy in the EU, calling it an "illegal anti-competitive scheme." According to Sweeney, both Google and Apple are bending over backward to avoid complying with the new EU regulations in spirit by imposing a myriad of junk fees for services provided by third-party app stores and payment platforms.

Google announced its malicious compliance plans for the European DMA law: The scare screens continue, and it looks like their illegal anti-steering policy will be replaced by a new Google Tax on web transactions.https://t.co/cfmXeyWlco

– Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) March 5, 2024

It is worth noting that Epic Games has a long history of legal skirmishes with Apple and Google over their 30 percent cut on all app transactions through the App Store and the Play Store. Under Sweeney, the game developer sued both Google and Apple for not only charging high transaction fees but also preventing developers from accepting payments via alternative platforms.

While Epic won its case against Google last year, it lost against Apple on nine out of 10 counts. However, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did note that Apple's so-called anti-steering policy, which prevents developers from accepting payments through third-party services, is illegal under the California Unfair Competition Law. While Epic appealed against the ruling, the Supreme Court in January 2024 rejected the appeal, ensuring a victory for Apple.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a European regulation meant to protect user privacy and promote competition and transparency in the digital marketplace. Under the new legislation, the European Commission designated six large tech companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, as "gatekeepers," legally requiring them to comply with specific requirements to prevent monopolistic practices that stifle competition and hurt consumers.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/102153-epic-games-ceo-blasts-google-malicious-compliance-eu.html

 

[Thanthan]

The only solution to this issue is to have public platforms. And by public I mean government controlled entities, that by law can charge no more than they spend on providing a given service.

The same goes for OS’s. It’s time to have EU Linux, USA Linux, etc. if people WANT Microsoft Windows, that’s fine, but it should not be a default. It should be because they provide a service better than the default, just as Apple woos customers from Microsoft because those customers PREFER MacOS.

Too many key functions of our highly digital societies are based on extremely large tech companies. And just as the industrial world could not live with a monopoly in charge of oil, the digital world can’t live with a monopoly on key digital infrastructure.

Standard Oil had to die, and so must the big private tech platforms.

 

[emmzo]

So, the European Commission designated six wolves to guard the sheep's den and guess what happened... brilliant!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The only solution to this issue is to have public platforms. And by public I mean government controlled entities, that by law can charge no more than they spend on providing a given service.

The same goes for OS’s. It’s time to have EU Linux, USA Linux, etc. if people WANT Microsoft Windows, that’s fine, but it should not be a default. It should be because they provide a service better than the default, just as Apple woos customers from Microsoft because those customers PREFER MacOS.

Too many key functions of our highly digital societies are based on extremely large tech companies. And just as the industrial world could not live with a monopoly in charge of oil, the digital world can’t live with a monopoly on key digital infrastructure.

Standard Oil had to die, and so must the big private tech platforms.

I cannot imagine anything more dystopian then the operating systems we use to run our world and the ability to publish software tied to a government entity. We've all seen it with china, and it does not work out well.

 

[emmzo]

I cannot imagine anything more dystopian then the operating systems we use to run our world and the ability to publish software tied to a government entity. We've all seen it with china, and it does not work out well.

Well, it`s either communism or monopoly. Tough choice.

 

[m4a4]

Well, it`s either communism or monopoly. Tough choice.

How about split them up? 1 entity controls the market (app store), another controls the apps/hardware.

The main issue here is that they control the market, and are a major player in it (making it easy for them to be anti-competitive). And then their interest heavily lies in keeping their market closed off so they can rake in the profits without proper competition.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Would be nice if the story elaborated a bit more on what exactly is going on here.

We know that the EU said that Google/Apple have to allow third parties onto their platforms (I'm pretty sure Google always allowed them but with some hoop jumping involved which wasn't the worst thing in the world) and as far as the article is concerned I'm not exactly sure how anything has changed or what the malicious compliance is or even what Sweeny's beef is at this point.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Well, it`s either communism or monopoly. Tough choice.

Or just......a reasonable rule? Why do people always jump to extremes? All the EU has to do is mandate that any OS sold in it's borders must accept third party apps if the user chooses to install them, and the first party provider cannot block these services, require payment, or otherwise interfere with their availability.

Boom I just solved the issue, at a layman level anyway.

 

[yRaz]

Or just......a reasonable rule? Why do people always jump to extremes?

Because the doors to the absurd have already been opened.

And while I like seeing the EU fine apple and help removed proprietary standards that cost consumers money while increasing pollution, they better keep their filthy ****ing hands off my Linux. It's bad enough that HDMI won't allow 4k120 support on Linux because MS and would lose their monopoly on gaming. And nVidia removing cuda compatibility layers with other hardware is really disgusting. I hate epic, but I hope they win and I'll never use windows or nVidia again.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Around the time the Fed was created in the 1913 there were some cartoons showing what would happen; monopolies.

 

[Thanthan]

I cannot imagine anything more dystopian than the operating systems we use to run our world and the ability to publish software tied to a government entity. We've all seen it with china, and it does not work out well.

So… more developed countries than the US actually have digital platforms for taxes, healthcare, etc. turns out that in a regulated democracy they are really good at keeping information out of the hands of bad actors, including other branches of government. Much better than in the US, where FBI can literallly just go through Facebook to purchase information on you xD where I’m from, the police would need a judges order to look at records from other branches of government. As would the tax service. And any other entity that didn’t write the relevant documents in the first place.

Government in a democracy can be forced transparency. Companies can’t. If you find the idea of government doing nice things dystopian, consider whether you live in an actual functioning democracy.