Tag: apple

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Bookmarked Commission opens non-compliance investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act (by European Commission)

With the large horizontal legal framework for the single digital market and the single market for data mostly in force and applicable, the EC is initiating first actions. This announcement focuses on app store aspects, on steering (third parties being able to provide users with other paths of paying for services than e.g. Apple’s app store), on (un-)installing any app and freedom to change settings, as well as providers preferencing own services above those of others. Five investigations for suspected non-compliance involving Google (Alphabet), Apple, and Meta (Facebook) have been announced. Amazon and Microsoft are also being investigated in order to clarify aspects that may lead to suspicions of non-compliance.

The investigation into Facebook is about their ‘pay or consent’ model, which is Facebook’s latest attempt to circumvent their GDPR obligations that consent should be freely given. It was clear that their move, even if it allows them to steer clear of GDPR (which is still very uncertain), it would create issues under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

In the same press release the EC announces that Facebook Messenger is getting a 6 month extension of the period in which to comply with interoperability demands.

The Commission suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA. … The Commission has also adopted five retention orders addressed to Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, asking them to retain documents which might be used to assess their compliance with the DMA obligations, so as to preserve available evidence and ensure effective enforcement.

European Commission

Bookmarked US lawmakers vote 50-0 to force sale of TikTok despite angry calls from users (by Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica)

Apple may be misinterpreting what the EU Digital Markets Act and Digitale Services Act are about, so perhaps this example of how the US is working their own anti trust laws, here w.r.t. TikTok helps them realise what’s at stake.

If an application is determined to be operated by a company controlled by a foreign adversary—like ByteDance, Ltd., which is controlled by the People’s Republic of China—the application must be divested from foreign adversary control within 180 days.

Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica

I don’t use iCloud in any way. I don’t have anything to sync as this is my only Apple device. I don’t let my Mac store things in its Apple key chain. So I block connections to iCloud, there is no reason known to me for them to exist other than Apple being overly eager in collecting data.

This results in my Mac doing 16 attempts per second in reaching iCloud on a keychain related domain. Over 10 million times this week. I allowed it this week once to see if it would shut up consequent attempts, but the crazy speed of trying to connect resumes not long afterwards. At 16Hz it’s just a few attempts per second shy of being within hearing range, otherwise I’d hear my Mac doing it 😉


Little Snitch showing what’s going on. Click to enlarge.

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Today is national apple picking day. We had a tree full of apples this year. We ate a few apples during summer, but the drought, wasps and birds took most of them. So despite the many apples the tree carried early in the summer, the harvest in the end was smaller than last year.

The apples are very tasty though. Just the right mix of sweet and tangy. And Y was rather impressed one day sitting at the table in the garden, when she asked for an apple, and I simply reached above me and picked one.

I spent more time pruning the tree, then picking the few remaining unspoilt apples today.


Pruning the tree

The very limited remaining harvest