[mstolpm]

EU regulations are very messy and DMA doesn't seem to be different. There are so many loop holes in the regulation that the "intention" and the effect are in part disjunct.

See the GDPR and cookie laws: End users should have been protected, but big companies (not only Meta et al, but e.g. German media corporations) are finding ways to "comply" and screw the users at the same time. Cookie consent is a mess. On the other hand, small businesses are struggling to comply and fear getting fined or getting an "Abmahnung" from a competitor.

The new rule that requests electronic invoicing (ZUGFeRD) is a welcome step towards more digitalization, but requests a human readable PDF with an embedded XML containing the structured invoice. The regulations require a human (!) to ensure that the PDF and XML match. Anyone who has ever worked with XML knows that a freelancer or small business outside of IT services doesn't have the knowledge and ability to do so. Again, they have to rely on external tools and services that not only imply costs, but themselves don't guarantee compliance.

Now the DMA. Regulations are welcome and needed for big players, but again, the rules seem to be arbitrary and full of loop holes. This is the EU and it already shows that the DMA leads to more fragmentation, both geographically (inside EU vs outside) as well as in the device space (iOS regulated, iPadOS not?). The relevant parts for AppStores ("Marketplaces") don't even mention the end user, but other competing market actors. Apple, Google, Meta all are interpreting the regulations different and of course "comply" in a way that favors their bottom line - of course, because the EU market is just a small portion of the revenue and the share holders would be angry if management would act different. And the end user already sees a growing enshitification in the EU: No more click through from Google search mini maps to Google Maps (no disadvantage for other maps providers). Browser choice menus with browsers nobody ever heard of. Requirements to accept new TOS without understanding what changed. Requests for "combining data" across services for "better experience"... But there is no mention of, for example, free side loading in the DMA, and no clear definition how to interpret the regulation.

We had all this in the EU with "Windows N" editions: special editions of Windows for European countries with unbundled components and more "free choice". Nobody wanted them: neither customers nor OEMs. And they had more bugs that the regular versions and were hated by Microsoft as well. And we have seen the flaws of GDPR and cookie law in recent years. Oh, and we have seen huge fines for large corporations as well ... and years and years of fighting them in courts, often reducing the fines significantly.

Moreover, the DMA mostly targets American "gate keepers" and this language already shows that the regulation is protective in its nature. It's interesting that even many US HN users hope for a strong reaction of the EU against Apple in particular, despite nobody has ever clearly shown the Apple has a monopoly in the EU or that customers were harmed. But what would the reaction if the EU would truly ban Apple from business in the EU or demand a split up? What would be the retaliations if the EU really tries to have the upper hand on how US corps can operate? And what would be the reaction of EU citizens if e.g. Apple, Meta oder Google would face a ban?