Interoperability regulation in the EU: Opening iOS and Android for Free Software
UB5.230 | Day 1 | 15:30 - 16:30 | Speakers: Lucas Lasota, Victor Le Pochat, Alexander Matern, Lori Roussey
Abstract
This panel will bring together policy/legal experts and enforcement officers from the European Commission to discuss how the Digital Markets Act (DMA) applies to Apple’s iOS/iPadOS and Google’s Android from the perspective of interoperability.
In particular, the panel will deal with the European Commission's recent decisions in regulating hardware and software interoperability for Apple’s OSes. The audience will learn what interoperability under the DMA means for Free Software developers, and how they can expect the interoperability solutions to be provided by gatekeeper companies like Apple and Google.
More importantly, the discussion will address relevant questions for the effective implementation of the interoperability obligations in the DMA, including:
- How can Free Software projects request interoperability from Apple and Google under the DMA?
- What are the concerns regarding integrity and security of the operating system involving interoperability grants under the DMA?
- What are the main challenges posed by changes in governance for the Android Open Source Project?
- What other DMA obligations can Free Software developers rely on to facilitate switching, specially related to data interoperability and portability?
- What are the consequences if Apple and Google fail to interoperate?
- Does the DMA effectively shift gatekeeper control away from Apple and Google?
- What regulatory or community responses, at both the European and global levels, are needed to preserve software freedom in the mobile ecosystem?
The panel will be composed by:
- Lori Roussey, Data Rights
- Victor Le Pochat, European Commission's DMA enforcement team
- Gabriel Kobus, European Commission's DMA enforcement team
- Alexander Matern, European Commission's DMA enforcement team
Panel moderation: Lucas Lasota, Legal Researcher and Lecturer at the Halle-Wittenberg University.
The language will be English.
Speakers
Dr. Lucas Lasota, MA, PhD, is a researcher, lecturer, qualified lawyer (Brazil) and project manager in the field of IT, telecommunications and contract law. His research focuses on regulatory measures of digital technologies and their impact on individual and collective rights, as well as on internet governance, telecommunications and international contract law.
Victor is a case handler at DG Connect in the European Commission, working on the Digital Markets Act. Prior to the Commission, he was a postdoctoral researcher in computer science at the DistriNet research unit of KU Leuven in Belgium, monitoring the security and privacy of large web ecosystems.
Alexander started out with app development on iOS and Android while studying computer science and IT security. Then started as a researcher in Cybersecurity, focusing on mobile operating systems and closed ecosystems. His research focused on understanding protocols such as AirDrop, Find My, while trying to build interoperable solutions. Alexander worked on many open source projects such as OpenDrop (the first open AirDrop implementation), OpenHaystack (the first open Find My implementation), and AirGuard (a tracking detection app against Bluetooth trackers). Alexander obtained his PhD in computer science at the Secure Mobile Networking Lab at TU Darmstadt in 2025.
Alexander joined the European Commission in the team enforcing the Digital Markets Act. Alexander works on interoperability problems with the lens of a cybersecurity research and an app developer.
Lori Roussey is a data protection law and policy specialist. She focuses on public private partnerships litigation as well as new technologies regulation. Lori has experience as the Data Protection Officer of a major humanitarian organisation and is now the Founder and Director of Data Rights, a litigation and advocacy non-profit focused on surveillance, sustainability, and interoperability.
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