The Law on Major European Digital Markets has entered into force – IT Pro – News

The European Digital Markets Act has entered into force. Antitrust law aims to limit the market power of large technology companies, most of which are American. A transition period will follow in the next six months.

The Digital Markets Act, or DMA, is one of two major EU legislation aimed at curtailing the power of tech companies. In addition to the DMA, there is also the DSA, the Digital Services Act, which sets the rules for online platforms. The DMA is the first of these two laws to officially enter into force. This will take place on Tuesday, November 1. That date has already been set; voted in April The European Commission is already in compliance with the lawwhich also made history valid.

The Digital Markets Act defines what tech companies can and cannot do on their platforms. These are called gatekeepers, large tech companies that, for example, have a certain annual sales rate or a number of users per month. Among other things, the law regulates that there must be interoperability between services and verification companies that they must apply to advertisers. The rules also apply to preventing monopolies, such as restrictions on favoring certain services. Tweakers wrote last year Background article on DMA.

Although the law will enter into force immediately, it will begin with a transitional period, which means that its effect will take some time. And that period lasts six months, until May 2 next year. During that period, companies have time to adapt their products and comply with regulations. This follows two months, until July 3, 2023, when companies that meet the requirements are required to inform the European Commission of their services. The European Commission then takes 45 working days to determine if the companies are already registered as “gatekeepers”, after which the gatekeepers have another six months to adapt their products. So it is likely that companies will not actually have to meet all the requirements until the beginning of March 2024.