Six Big Tech companies including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft faced fresh pressure Wednesday last week from the European Union, which moved to counter their digital dominance with far-reaching rules aimed at giving users more choices and making competition fairer.
Google parent Alphabet, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance also were classified as online “gatekeepers” subject to the strictest requirements of the 27-nation EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The list of do’s and don’ts seeks to prevent tech giants from cornering digital markets, with the threat of whopping fines or even forcing companies to sell off parts of their business to operate in Europe.
That means European users of Big Tech social media or chat services could soon be able to send messages to rival platforms, avoid having their data used to show personalized ads and choose which search engine or browser they prefer rather than being stuck with a default version.
Photo: Pixabay 照片：Pixabay
It’s part of a sweeping update to the EU’s digital rulebook taking force this year and comes weeks after a companion package of rules aimed at keeping Internet users safe, the Digital Services Act, started kicking in.
“The most impactful online companies will now have to play by our EU rules,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who’s in charge of the bloc’s digital policy, said on X, previously known as Twitter. “DMA means more choice for consumers. Fewer obstacles for smaller competitors. Opening the gates to the Internet.”
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said digital platforms can be listed as gatekeepers if they act as key gateways between businesses and consumers by providing “core platform services.”
Photo: Pixabay 照片：Pixabay
Those services include Google’s Chrome browser, Microsoft’s Windows operating systems, chat apps like Meta’s WhatsApp, social networks like TikTok, and others playing a middleman role like Amazon’s Marketplace and Apple’s App Store.
The companies now have six months to start complying with the Digital Markets Act’s requirements, which are spurring changes in how Big Tech companies operate.
One of the main goals is to break up the “closed environment where you are in a way locked in and you cannot go elsewhere,” said Alexandre de Streel, a professor of European law at the University of Namur and an academic director at CERRE, a think tank in Brussels.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
“Consumers will be better off because you will pay less and will be able to move more easily from one platform to another,” de Streel said. “So that’s the endgame.”
Platforms are banned from ranking their own products or services higher than their rivals’ in search results. So, Amazon isn’t allowed to make its own-brand products easier to find than those from third-party merchants.
Online services can’t combine a user’s personal data to build up a profile for targeted advertising. That means Meta can’t mix together a user’s data from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services without clear consent.
Essential software or apps such as Web browsers can’t be installed by default along with the operating system, in the way Google’s Chrome comes bundled with Android phones. Consumers will instead be given a choice screen for search engines and browsers to use on their devices. Google noted that it’s already doing this and said it would remind European users of their choices.
Violations could result in fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s annual global revenue and up to 20 percent for repeat offenders, or even a breakup of the company.
(AP)
包括亞馬遜、蘋果和微軟在內的六大科技巨頭上週三面臨歐盟新的壓力，歐盟採取了影響層面更廣的規範來抗衡它們的數位主導地位，旨在讓用戶有更多選擇，並使競爭更公平。
谷歌母公司Alphabet、Facebook母公司Meta以及TikTok母公司字節跳動也被列為網路「守門人」，需遵守有27個成員國的歐盟《數位市場法》（DMA）的最嚴格要求。這些守則旨在防範科技巨頭壟斷數位市場，違者處以巨額罰款，甚至強制公司出售部分業務，方能在歐洲營運。
這意味科技巨頭的社群媒體或聊天服務的歐洲用戶很快就能向競爭對手平台發送訊息，避免其資料被用來投放個人化廣告，並得以選擇自己偏好的搜索引擎或瀏覽器，而不是被困在預設選項中。
歐盟數位規則手冊的全面更新今年生效，這是其中一部分，數週前旨在保護網路用戶安全的配套規範《數位服務法》開始上路。
負責歐盟數位政策的歐盟專員蒂埃里‧布雷頓透過X（前身為Twitter）表示：「最具影響力的網路科技公司現在必須遵守我們歐盟的規則」。「DMA意味消費者有更多選擇，小型競爭者面臨的障礙更少，網路大門打開」。
歐盟執行機構歐盟執行委員會表示，若數位平台透過提供「核心平台服務」充當企業與消費者之間的關鍵門戶，則可將之列為守門人。
這些核心平台服務包括谷歌的Chrome瀏覽器、微軟的Windows 操作系統、Meta的WhatsApp等聊天應用程式、TikTok等社群網路，以及其他扮演中介者角色的服務，如亞馬遜的Marketplacee與蘋果的App Store。
這些公司現在有六個月的時間準備開始遵守《數位市場法》的要求，這正促使科技巨頭的營運方式產生改變。
那慕爾大學歐洲法教授兼布魯塞爾智庫歐洲監管中心（CERRE）學術主任亞歷山大‧德‧史特雷爾表示，其主要目標之一是打破「封閉的環境，在這種環境中你被鎖在裡面，去不了別的地方」。
史特雷爾說：「消費者的處境會更好，因為支付的費用將更少，並且能更輕鬆地轉移到另一個平台」。「所以這就是結局」。
平台禁止在搜索結果中讓自家產品或服務的排序高於競爭對手。因此，亞馬遜不能讓自有品牌的產品比第三方商家的產品更容易找到。
線上服務不能結合用戶的個資來建立定向廣告的個人檔案。這表示未經明確同意，Meta不能將Facebook、Instagram 和WhatsApp中的用戶資料互相流用。
網路瀏覽器等基本軟體或應用程式無法預設與操作系統一起安裝，如同谷歌的Chrome與Android手機綁定在一起那樣。相反，消費者的螢幕將出現選項，可自行選擇機子所使用的搜索引擎及瀏覽器。谷歌指出，它已經這樣做了，並表示將提醒歐洲用戶這個選項。
公司若違反規定，所導致的罰款可能高達公司全球年收入的10%，屢犯者將面臨高達20%的罰款，甚至導致公司解散。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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