DMA: tell us how gatekeepers are handling your interoperability requests
Free Software developers: your voice is needed! The Free Software Foundation Europe has launched the Digital Markets Act Interoperability Survey to gather first-hand experiences from developers requesting software interoperability.
Imagine you are a developer building a Free Software payment system for iOS, or an emulator for the iPad, or even an alternative app store for the iPhone. You are ready to share your project with the world, but you are denied access to the APIs you need. Or you try to contact Apple, but you get no reply at all to your interoperability request. Or the documentation online is faulty, and there is no reaction to your bug filing on Apple’s tracking system. Or, worst of all, you have your request denied, and no explanation whatsoever is given of the reasons.
These scenarios are not far-fetched. These are realities many Free Software developers face in their daily work when interacting with “gatekeepers” like Apple and other large tech companies.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a law in the European Union aimed to remediate these issues. Article 6(7) specifically requires gatekeepers, like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, to provide developers free-of-charge, effective, and documentedaccess to hardware and software features they need for their projects. The idea is simple: enable real competition, encourage innovation, and make room for Free Software alternatives.
A victory for interoperability!
During the regulatory dialogues with the European Commission, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has coordinated efforts within a coalition of Free Software projects that were directly affected, including developers of alternative browsers, payment systems, app stores, and emulators. We documented their attempts to request interoperability, and the roadblocks they encountered, vague procedures, unreasonable requirements, or simply being ignored. We then presented these findings to the European Commission, calling for clearer enforcement.
In December 2024, the European Commission started a regulatory procedure to improve Apple’s procedures for granting developers interoperability within iOS and iPadOS. The FSFE engaged with the Commission providing comprehensive inputs demanding better policies towards Free Software developers. In March 2025, the Commission published a decision adopting several of our suggestions, substantially improving Apple’s procedures for interoperability requests. In its turn, Apple reacted aggressively, starting new litigation against the Commission in opposition to these procedures.
Now, the challenge comes with the enforcement of these rules. Monitoring is paramount.
Hackers needed: share your experience with interoperability
The recent victory achieved by the decision of the Commission has underscored the importance of interoperability for innovation. It is enabling alternatives to proprietary services and ultimately giving users more choice and control over the technology they use every day.
The FSFE has launched the DMA Interoperability Survey, aimed at collecting crucial input from Free Software developers who have tried, or plan to try, to request interoperability from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon under Article 6(7) of the DMA. We want to monitor how gatekeepers are handling the interoperability requests submitted by Free Software developers. We want to hear the developers’ experiences and to make sure their voices are heard when gatekeepers fall short of their obligations.
If you are a Free Software developer and made or plan to make an interoperability request under Article 6(7) of the DMA, we need your help! Whether your request was successful, delayed, denied, or ignored: your insights are valuable. Please, take a look at the survey or share it with anyone for whom this might be relevant.
The FSFE will use the findings to identify systemic issues, advocate for stronger enforcement, and support a full and fair implementation of the DMA. This protects and empowers developers, and our software freedom.
Take the interoperability survey and share your experience
Start the survey