This probe is the escalation of a fight that has been building all year: after Facebook announced in August that Oculus devices would require a linked Facebook login, critics called the tie a dangerous precedent, and by September Oculus had pulled Rift and Quest sales from Germany pending talks with regulators who doubted the requirement was even legal. Now the Bundeskartellamt has converted that doubt into a formal antitrust investigation into the account-tying itself.
The move also extends a long arc of German scrutiny of Facebook: the same authority opened an investigation over user terms back in 2016 ([[a:865832]]), and separately probed its audio transcription practices in 2019. With an in-depth look at Google's data processing terms following in May 2021, Germany is running a sustained campaign against how dominant platforms bundle data and services.
First-order effects
Facebook must defend the mandatory Facebook-account requirement for Oculus hardware before Germany's antitrust regulator, while its Rift and Quest headsets remain off-sale in Germany until the dispute is resolved.
Second-order effects
If the probe forces Facebook to decouple Oculus from its login, the company loses one of its main levers for funneling VR buyers into its social graph — and rivals' standalone headsets gain a compliance-free selling point in Europe.
Third-order effects
The case points toward regulators treating forced data-sharing across product lines as an abuse of dominance in itself, making account-tying a standard target alongside pricing and exclusivity in platform investigations.
The trend: European regulators are systematically dismantling cross-product data ties at dominant platforms, with Germany's antitrust authority setting the template for both Facebook and Google.
If Facebook is forced to divest Oculus, then Oculus won't survive. Apple is about to come and to compete you need advertising-focused subsidies. So, watch what you wish for. You might hand the entire world to Apple.
This is one that I could support. Requiring a COMPANY login for unrelated products is foul, especially when that opts you in to a tracking network. https://twitter.com/...
#SweeneyWasRight Glad to see savvy countries like Germany act against the Oculus Quest 2 account requirement, and the States wake up with their calls to break Facebook up. @TimSweeneyEpic was absolutely right to warn us in 2016. https://twitter.com/...
If Facebook's Diem (nee Libra) ever launches, Facebook will almost certainly want to tie Novi wallet access to your Facebook account. They already tried this with Oculus. https://techcrunch.com/...
At the time of the acquisition Oculus offered distressed users an assurance that “[y]ou will not need a Facebook account to use or develop for the Rift [headset].” https://www.eff.org/... https://twitter.com/...
I'm curious to see if this probe (in Germany) will have any impact on the US antitrust suit filed yesterday regarding WhatsApp and Instagram. https://twitter.com/...
Today, the Bundeskartellamt has initiated abuse proceedings against Facebook to examine the linkage between Oculus virtual reality products and the social network and Facebook platform. Here's the press release: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/ ... Credits: @1Br0wn
This is how Facebook in particular has turned the sludge of highly-engaging swamps of conspiracy theories and tribal hate farms into gold mines. Whatever it takes to keep those eyeballs glued. Then the targeting machine mints the cash. It's truly diabolical regime.