Contact: Michela Palladino – Michela@AppAlliance.org
Statement from the Developers Alliance on the Council General Approach concerning the Proposal on the Directive on the supply of Digital Content
BRUSSELS – Developers Alliance Director of European Policy and Government Relations, Michela Palladino, released the following statement regarding the adoption of a general approach by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Ministers on the proposed Directive on the supply of Digital Content (the “Digital Content Directive” or DCD).
“Since the beginning of the debate on the DCD, the Developers Alliance has expressed its concerns over the proposal’s inconsistencies with legislation put forward under the European Digital Single Market Strategy and its potential to jeopardize innovation and European competitiveness”, said Ms Palladino.
“We believe that today’s JHA Council general approach represents a significant step forward in this negotiation. We welcome the improved regime of remedies and appreciate the Member States’ aim to make rules more effective and fit for the digital age. We also appreciate the efforts of the Council to ensure alignment with the General Data Protection Regulation.
“However, we are disappointed to note that the scope has not been further clarified and has been broadened to include additional services (e.g. Over-The-Top services). At the same time, we regret that the key problem in the proposal, the concept of ‘data as a counter-performance’, has only been addressed semantically.
“The proposal of ‘consumers paying with their personal data’ goes against the essence of data, the functioning of the data market and is likely to negatively impact premium and ads-funded services and content, which is particularly worrying for developers, SMEs and their business models.
“We urge co-legislators to focus on addressing this important issue during the trialogue negotiations and consider narrowing the scope in order to exclude any zero-priced digital content from the scope of the Directive. We also encourage policy-makers to keep in mind the need of consistency and harmonisation of legal instruments, to ensure a stable digital regulatory environment.”
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The Developers Alliance is the world’s leading advocate for software developers and the companies invested in their success. Alliance members include industry leaders in consumer, enterprise, industrial, and emerging software development, and a global network of more than 75,000 developers.
