UK competition and digital-markets regulation: the CMA’s digital markets and strategic market status regime, the DMCCA 2024, concurrent competition powers, and where it meets data and payments.
In short: the CMA markets remedies review covers 33 market investigation remedies made between 1987 and 2017. On 12 August 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority provisionally decided to remove 23 in full, remove 4 in part and retain 6. Representations close at 5pm on 11 September 2026, with a final decision expected in October…
Update, 8 October 2026: since this post was published, the Prime Minister announced in August 2026 that the subscription contracts regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will come into force in January 2027 rather than spring 2027. No commencement regulations have yet been made. In short: In the CMA Microsoft investigation,…
In short: AI Office enforcement covers a company only where it built the AI system on its own general-purpose AI model, or where the system operates inside a platform designated under the Digital Services Act. Every other business remains subject to national regulation. The difference matters, because the AI Office can enter and seal premises…
In short: Radio selection services are voice-activated services that let a user pick a UK radio station and play it by spoken command. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) proposed on 15 July 2026 to designate Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri under section 362BB of the Communications Act 2003. The consultation…
In short: The Google DMA fine of €890 million, imposed by the European Commission on 23 July 2026, is the first time the Commission has penalised Google under the Digital Markets Act: €460 million for self-preferencing its own results on Google Search under Article 6(5), and €430 million for restricting steering on Google Play under…
In short: The AliExpress DSA EU fine of €550 million, imposed on 20 July 2026, is a penalty for breaching both systemic-risk duties, in Articles 34 and 35 of the EU Digital Services Act, and follows the €200 million fine imposed on Temu on 28 May 2026 for breaching the risk-assessment duty. UK law applies…
In short: DMA specification decisions adopted by the European Commission on 16 July 2026 tell Google exactly how to comply with two Digital Markets Act obligations: opening eleven defined Android features to rival AI assistants by 1 August 2027 at the latest, and sharing anonymised Google Search ranking, query, click and view data with competing…
In short: Software licence exhaustion is the principle that once a copyright owner has sold a copy of its software, it cannot use copyright to control the resale of that copy. On 7 July 2026, in ValueLicensing v Microsoft [2026] EWCA Civ 872, the Court of Appeal dismissed Microsoft’s appeals and allowed a reseller’s competition…
In short: CMA steering conduct requirements, proposed on 30 June 2026, would stop Apple banning, and Google restricting, the way UK app developers point their own customers to cheaper off-platform payment. A separate call for evidence asks how third parties should reach the iPhone’s contactless chip. Both close in late July 2026. By Rob Bratby,…
In short: On 16 June 2026, in Joined Cases C-188/24 and C-190/24 WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates and Coyote System (ECLI:EU:C:2026:492), the Court of Justice ruled that an operator whose algorithm determines, in its own interest or that of its service, under what conditions, how and in which order of priority user information is…
In short: On 25 June 2026 the European Commission told Amazon and Microsoft that it provisionally regards AWS and Azure as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. That preliminary view is the first move towards DMA cloud gatekeeper designation of a cloud service. The UK looked at the same two firms and chose a lighter…
In short: The Microsoft SMS investigation is the CMA’s inquiry into whether Microsoft has strategic market status in business software. Launched on 14 May 2026 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, it covers Office, Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server and security software. The invitation to comment closed on 4 June 2026 and…