[FSFE] Digital Markets Act - Device Neutrality must be consolidated in the legislation

[press at fsfe.org]

 = Digital Markets Act - Device Neutrality must be consolidated in the legislation =

[ Read online: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211213-01.it.html ]

On December 15, the Digital Markets Act, the EU's comprehensive
regulatory package for internet platforms, will go through plenary
voting at the European Parliament. The FSFE calls for consolidating
Device Neutrality to enable fair and non-discriminatory use of Free
Software in digital devices.

The European Union is about to introduce a major overhaul of Internet
legislation with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) [1]. After successful
committee voting on 22 November, the European Parliament will conduct
plenary voting on 15 December. The FSFE advocates Device Neutrality [2]
as a fundamental step to achieve a contestable, open, and competitive
digital market in the EU and urges the European Parliament to secure
this principle in the final voting.

 == Device Neutrality - fostering Free Sofware in an end-user centric digital market ==

The DMA focuses on "gatekeepers", understood as very large tech
companies that have control over large parts of digital services, such
as search engines, social networking services, messaging services,
operating systems, and online intermediation services. While digital
devices are a ubiquitous reality in all aspects of life, our control
over the hardware and software running on them is increasingly being
limited. Device Neutrality is the policy concept that users should have
the right of non-discrimination of the services and software they use,
based on platform control by hardware vendors, manufacturers, and
service providers. The goal is to enable users to bypass gatekeepers and
enable a fair and non-discriminatory use of Free Software in devices.

La libertà nella società dell'informazione ha bisogno del tuo contributo
finanziario.

Diventa ora un sostenitore [3]   After many iterations and amendments,
the DMA's final text submitted to the plenary voting incorporates the
following Device Neutrality principles, which the FSFE urges the
European Parliament to consolidate in the plenary voting:

- *Strict end-user consent for pre-installed apps*. The DMA must impose
  on gatekeepers the obligation to allow their customers to uninstall
  any pre-installed software applications they provide on their services
  or with their hardware. This means more restrictive rules for pre-
  installed apps, providing users the same access privileges for both
  pre-installed and alternative apps, and the possibility to uninstall
  pre-loaded apps.

- *No vendor lock-in*. The DMA should enable side-loading of apps in
  dominant operating systems, so consumers can install any compatible
  software on their devices. The DMA should require gatekeepers to
  permit third-party app stores and code repositories that compete with
  their own. The law must prohibit gatekeepers limiting the ability of
  end-users to switch between and subscribe to different software
  applications and services. This will prevent gatekeepers from locking
  users into specific service providers.

- *Interoperability of services based on* Open Standards [4]. It is
  urgent for the DMA to require gatekeepers to provide access and
  interoperability to hardware and software features accessed or
  controlled via the gatekeeper's operating system. That means that the
  operating system's functionalities and available APIs should be
  transparent and available to apps in a non-discriminatory way.
  Interoperability should be defined by Open Standards.

- *Real-time data portability*. The DMA should require gatekeepers to
  provide real-time data portability for devices, so that consumers can
  switch from one device to another - including operating systems - as
  smoothly as possible.

Commenta l'articolo [5]

 1: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/OJQ-9-2021-12-15_EN.html
 2: https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211122-01.it.html
 3: https://my.fsfe.org/donate?referrer=https://fsfe.org/news/2021/news-20211213-01.html
 4: https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/standards/index.it.html
 5: https://community.fsfe.org/t/780

  == Informazioni sulla Free Software Foundation Europe ==

  La Free Software Foundation Europe è una Onlus che incoraggia gli utenti
  ad avere il controllo della tecnologia. Il Software è presente in tutti
  gli aspetti della nostra vita ed è importante che questa tecnologia ci
  aiuti anziché limitarci. Il Software Libero garantisce a tutti il
  diritto di usare, studiare, modificare e condividere il software. Questi
  diritti aiutano a sostenere altre libertà fondamentali come il diritto
  di parola, la libertà di stampa e la privacy.

  La FSFE aiuta persone e organizzazioni a comprendere come il Software
  Libero contribuisce alla libertà, alla trasparenza e
  all'auto-determinazione.  Potenziamo i diritti degli utenti abolendo le
  barriere che esistono nell'adottare il Software Libero, incoraggiamo le
  persone ad usare e sviluppare il Software Libero e forniamo le risorse
  per consentire a tutti di promuovere ulteriormente il Software Libero in
  Europa. 

  https://fsfe.org