The future of the Android OS is decided in Luxembourg and Brussels.
Court of Justice of the European Union
I spent the last week in the Grand Chamber before the European General Court, in Luxembourg, alongside distinguished lawyers, in the intensive marathon hearing for the Android case.
During an outstanding battle of legal arguments and theories, the judges asked about “the real world.” I was happy to hear that, as it was precisely Developers Alliance’s motivation to intervene in this case. We came to present the impact of the European Commission’s Decision on the Android developer community.
Our lawyers masterfully explained to the Court what developers are doing in the real world: they code for Android, for iOS and for any other ecosystem that provides them the right environment to create and thrive, based on pragmatic business decisions. They’re not captive, nor “disciplined citizens of Androidville,” as contended during the hearing. They are the creators of the magic world of technology and they freely choose the right place to develop software products and services for the delight of their users. If the current Android ecosystem degrades they’ll just move on, with significant costs and efforts. Consumers will do their choice, too, no matter if the government thinks it knows what’s best for them.
Now we are waiting for the judges to deliberate, while the debate will continue outside the Court premises, in an interminable analysis of what has been said during the past week. I have a strong feeling that we might be back. While waiting for the Court’s ultimate interpretation and decision, the EU policymakers are on the course of adopting a convenient shortcut from the strict standards of competition law. The proposed regulation, the Digital Markets Act, simply dictates what business models are allowed as well as artificially reconfiguring digital markets. All of that without a proper impact assessment of ‘real world’ outcomes.
All the (regulatory) roads end up in Luxembourg, sooner or later.
For those of you interested in more details, you can read about our main reasons to get involved in this case and our position on the DMA. Questions or concerns? We are always eager to hear developers’ opinions, which is at the heart of our work.
