© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is seen in New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Tech giants are likely to challenge a new European Union law aimed at reining in their power with the first cases in a potential wave of litigation expected by the end of the year, a top EU judge said on Friday. EU.
The Digital Markets Law (DMA), which came into force in November, will classify online platforms with more than 45 million users as gatekeepers, among other criteria.
Gatekeepers, companies that control data and access to the platform, are bound by a list of dos, including making their messaging services interoperable, and don’ts, including not promoting their products and services on their platforms. .
The list of gatekeepers to whom the DMA will apply will be announced on September 6 and will likely include Google from Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Meta, Amazon (NASDAQ:), Apple (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) ).
Those who disagree with the label and the requirements are likely to file their complaint with the Luxembourg-based General Court within a few months, said its president, Marc van der Woude.
The General Court is part of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and deals with matters ranging from competition law to trade and the environment.
“Probably at the end of this year, early next year we could see the first cases and I don’t think it will stop,” he told a conference organized by the European Commission.
Some, like Google and Apple, have lobbied heavily against the DMA.
“We remain concerned that some provisions of the DMA create unnecessary privacy and security vulnerabilities for our users, while others will prohibit us from charging for intellectual property in which we invest heavily,” it said in March 2022.
Google echoed those sentiments, saying it was also concerned that the new rules could curtail innovation.
But van der Woude said the WFD was still evolving.
“It is a living organism, this DMA, is under constant review, the obligations will be reviewed and the acts will be implemented. So if I can call it that, it will be a lawyer’s paradise,” he said.
He said that the areas of dispute will likely center on the appointment of the guardian, the specifications of his duties and during the application of the WFD.
One contentious area is likely to be the requirement that gatekeepers notify their acquisitions to the Commission and whether such deals meet the threshold for regulatory scrutiny, van der Woude said.
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