Apple is currently facing a lot of pressure from the European Union (EU), which wants the company to open its ecosystem to third parties. It is de facto forcing it to do so through its new legislation, namely the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). Apple, understandably, does not take this lightly and warns of the risks that opening the ecosystem to third parties may pose. He even takes the situation so seriously that he is currently filing a lawsuit against DMA, writes iMore server.

The EU perceives the boom of technological giants and their services. It thus created the two aforementioned acts, the aim of which is to ensure healthy competition as well as the maximum protection of users in Europe.

DMA and DSA: What’s the point?

The purpose of the DMA is to ensure identical market conditions for all digital companies, regardless of their size. The established rules aim to prevent technology companies from imposing unfair conditions on businesses and consumers and other unfair practices. These include, for example, a better assessment of own services and products or the inability to remove pre-installed software, states European Parlament.

One of the goals of the DMA is to improve interoperability between messaging platforms. The ultimate solution should be the creation of one common platform for all leading communication applications. In practice, everyone would be able to communicate with everyone regardless of what application the other party is using.

DSA, on the other hand, focuses on increasing the security of the online space through the protection of fundamental rights. The main concerns that the legislation wants to address are the trade in illegal goods, services and content, as well as algorithms that increase the spread of misinformation. Thanks to DSA, users will also have more control and the ability to learn better, on the basis of which specific content is shown to them. They will also be able to choose the option without using profiling. Finally, the DSA prohibits the use of targeted advertising to youth.

After all, he “agrees” with RCS, but not at all with opening iOS

In the past few days, RCS has been talked about a lot in relation to Apple. It is a new digital communication standard that is gradually replacing SMS messages. RCS (Enhanced Communication Services) technology enables sending messages via cellular network or Wi-Fi. As Google’s support page states, these messages can contain high-resolution files and photos in addition to text.

The catch is that communication via RCS is only possible if both sides have this standard active. Otherwise, communication takes place via SMS or MMS.

Apple initially rejected the idea of ​​introducing support for RCS. A few days ago, however, he changed his mind, although apparently not on his own initiative. He announced that he will bring support for this standard to iPhone smartphones next year. An Apple spokesperson says RCS will offer better interoperability for cross-platform messaging, according to the company. Interoperability is one of the key words that often appear in the description of DMA and DSA.

“Later next year, we will add support for the Universal RCS Profile, a standard currently published by the GSM Association. We believe that RCS Universal Profile will offer better interoperability compared to SMS or MMS. It will work alongside iMessage,” the spokesman said. However, he did not forgo the remark that Apple continues to see iMessage as the best and most secure choice for exchanging messages.

The question remained the opening of iOS, or allowing iPhone users to download apps from third-party stores. Although we recently heard that this could happen as early as next year, now comes an unexpected twist. As we mentioned in the introduction, Apple is now filing a lawsuit against DMA, citing concerns about the security breach of users’ personal data.

He sees big risks in DMA

Apple has previously expressed its displeasure with the legislation and its consequences. Unfortunately for him, the App Store, the official app store for iOS, is among the 22 services subject to the new DMA changes. Initially, a 6-month period was set, during which companies and services had to either comply with the established guidelines or appeal against them in court. Apple finally chose the second option.

The Californian giant has repeatedly stated that opening up its ecosystem could pose serious security risks for users. However, it is difficult to say whether this is really the reason why iOS does not want to open up to third parties. In case of opening, others will also get space, which can reduce the popularity of official Apple services.

We’re really curious to see how the whole situation unfolds. However, the lawsuit has only just been filed, which means that we do not have any more detailed information in this regard at this time.