आईसीटी समाचार
If the EU's recently agreed-upon Digital Markets Act is implemented, messaging app makers may be required to make their applications function together. According to the EU's press release, parliamentarians decided that businesses like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage must make their applications "interoperable" with smaller messaging systems at the request of developers. While the rule hasn't been approved yet, the terminology referred to by the EU might force firms like Apple and Meta to open up systems that they previously had total control over.
For example, iMessages can only be sent via Apple's iMessage software, which is only available on Apple's devices. It appears that the EU is attempting to compel Apple to allow other messaging applications to interact with iMessage, implying that an iMessage user on an iPhone might converse with a Telegram user on a Windows PC. The language in the press release is ambiguous as to whether the big apps would have to work together (e.g., WhatsApp users being able to send to iMessage, or iMessage vs. Android green bubble disputes), but the EU claims it is attempting to break down barriers around gardens while not putting small businesses out of business.
While achieving this level of compatibility may appear difficult in terms of technology, the EU hasn't given businesses much time to do so. The restrictions will go into force little over six months after the EU Parliament and Council ratify the Digital Markets Act. Companies keep their communications systems closed because they can, not because it's hard to get them to function together, as history has shown. Apple pushed a more open version of iMessage to carriers many years ago, and Meta has already integrated several of its messaging services. FaceTime was marketed as being open source by Steve Jobs himself.
However, it appears that Apple's tune has altered in recent history – internal correspondence suggest that Apple didn't introduce iMessage to Android so that customers would keep buying iPhones. To put it another way, there was a commercial incentive to remain closed. If the EU's plan is approved, there will be a compelling business motivation to follow the EU's directives to open up. According to the EU's news release, a corporation might be fined up to 10% of its global annual revenue. For repeated infractions, the penalty might rise to 20%, and the Commission can even block the business from completing acquisitions if it is found to be breaking the regulations on a regular basis.
