European regulators crack down on Big Tech
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[October 03, 2023] (Reuters)
- A raid by French antitrust authorities of the offices of a technology
firm named as Nvidia in media reports is the latest among a string of
such actions by European regulators against Big Tech companies.
Here are some of the actions taken by European watchdogs to keep a tab
on big technology companies:
EUROPEAN UNION
Microsoft said in August it would unbundle chat and video app Teams from
its Office product in a bid to avoid a possible EU antitrust fine, a
month after the European Commission launched an investigation into its
Office and Teams tie-up.
Meta Platforms offered in July to curb the use of competitors'
advertising data for its Facebook Marketplace online classified service
in an attempt to settle an EU antitrust investigation but regulators
rebuffed it, people familiar with the matter said.
In May, Meta was hit with a record 1.2-billion euro ($1.27 billion) fine
by the EU's lead privacy regulator for its handling of user information
and given five months to stop transferring users' data to the United
States.
EU regulators said in June that Alphabet's Google may have to sell part
of its adtech business to address concerns about anti-competitive
practices, threatening the company with its harshest regulatory penalty
to date.
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The EU competition watchdog last year accused Apple of restricting
rivals' access to its tap-and-go technology, NFC, used for mobile
wallets, making it difficult for them to develop rival services on Apple
devices. The regulators have since continued their investigation.
In December 2022, Amazon settled three antitrust probes after it
addressed the EU's concerns over its use of sellers' data.
In September, the EU picked out 22 so-called "gatekeeper" services run
by Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok-owner ByteDance,
giving them six months to comply with the provisions of its wide-ranging
Digital Markets Act (DMA).
BRITAIN
Britain's communications regulator said in April it would ask the UK
competition watchdog to investigate Amazon and Microsoft, saying some
aspects of the market, including fees to switch supplier, were a cause
for concern.
FRANCE
The French competition authority raided Nvidia's local offices in the
last week of September, the Wall Street Journal reported. The watchdog
disclosed the raid on Sept. 27, but did not name the company beyond
saying it was in the "graphics cards sector".
Nvidia declined to comment.
The antitrust authority in July said Apple may have violated regulations
related to the utilisation of iPhone user data in advertising and could
potentially misuse its dominant market position by imposing biased,
unclear, and unfair conditions to handle user data.
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![](../images/100323PIX/busine63.jpg)
The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels,
Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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The country's privacy watchdog said in July it was aware of OpenAI
CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin crypto project and that the legality of
its biometric data collection "seems questionable as do the
conditions for storing biometric data".
GERMANY
A German data watchdog has been investigating Worldcoin since late
2022. Worldcoin, which launched in July 2023, requires users to give
their iris scans in exchange for a digital ID and, in some
countries, free cryptocurrency.
ITALY
Italy's antitrust agency said in May it had opened a probe into
Apple for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the apps market.
In April, the watchdog took measures against Meta over an alleged
abuse of its position in the country, in a probe involving the
rights to music posted on the group's platforms.
OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot was temporarily banned in Italy in March
over concerns by the national data protection authority, but was
made available to users again in April.
The antitrust authority said in March it had opened an investigation
into TikTok for allegedly breaching its rules by allowing the
publication of "dangerous content" inciting suicide, self-harm and
poor nutrition.
NETHERLANDS
The Dutch competition regulator on Oct. 2 said it had rejected
Apple's objections against fines of 50 million euros it had given
the company over failure to comply with regulations aimed at
limiting the dominant position of Apple's App Store. Apple will
appeal the decision in Dutch courts.
POLAND
A Polish watchdog said in September it was investigating OpenAI over
a complaint that ChatGPT breaks European Union data protection laws.
Poland's competition and consumer protection authority in February
accused Amazon's European arm of misleading sales and delivery
practices.
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SPAIN
Spain's antitrust watchdog in July fined Amazon and Apple for
colluding to limit the online sale of devices from Apple and
competitors in the country.
($1 = 0.9458 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, Victor Goury-Laffont, Olivier
Cherfan and Paolo Laudani in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi and
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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