Report from Euractiv
In Brief – The EU’s General Court has backed the European Commission’s determination that Microsoft’s Edge browser is not a regulated core platform service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission concluded that despite Edge technically having enough users to qualify as a regulated service, the numbers were due to the software being pre-loaded on the home page of Windows computers, but actual use of Edge significantly trailed Google’s Chrome browser and Apple’s Safari. Norwegian web browser company Opera challenged the Commission’s ruling and argued that Microsoft, as a designated gatekeeper under the DMA, should not be able to preference its Edge browser on its regulated Windows PC Operating System. The General Court ruled that the Commission was entitled to consider Edge’s limited usage when assessing its importance as a business gateway and therefore whether it faced DMA mandates.
Context – The DMA regulates the “core platform services” of digital “gatekeeper” companies. The gatekeepers are the giant companies. Microsoft is one of seven. In terms of digital services, the DMA regulates app stores, search engines, social networking, messaging, video sharing, virtual assistants, web browsers, cloud services, operating systems, online marketplaces, and digital ad platforms. However, all the products and services of each of the gatekeepers are not automatically regulated. Instead, the Commission determines which of each gatekeeper’s covered services are a major gateway between business users and consumers in Europe. There are currently 24 covered platform services. Microsoft operates two, its Windows OS and the LinkedIn social network, although its Azure cloud services platform might soon be added to the roster. The Commission has interpreted Article 6 of the DMA, which prohibits self-preferencing behaviors, to apply to a gatekeeper’s core platform service operating system only for that gatekeeper’s other covered services, so while the Windows OS is regulated, it can preference Edge because is not, but it cannot preference LinkedIn.