11 July, 2023

ETNO and GSMA input for the Call for Evidence on virtual worlds (metaverses): a head start towards the next technological transition

ETNO and GSMA welcome the opportunity to provide input to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on virtual worlds and the technologies driving the transformation towards the next technological transition.

As the boundaries between physical and virtual realities are increasingly to become blurry, enabling more intuitive and immersive experiences, it will be necessary to come up with a clear and concrete regulatory framework, which encourages openness and competition and gives market players important investment securities. This is particularly true since this change is expected to impact citizens, industries and governments alike in many different ways , ranging from connectivity infrastructure to virtual-worlds enabling technologies to cross-cutting issues such as sustainability, privacy, people’s rights and global competitiveness.

We agree with the Commission’s decision to opt for a non-legislative instrument (EC Recommendation). In our view, it is too early in the technology development cycle to set [or ‘define’] binding rules for virtual worlds. Much is still unknown about the way this technology will function, how the market will develop, and what risks may or may not emerge in this context. Member States are also some way off introducing national regulatory frameworks for virtual worlds, so the risk of fragmentation to the single market is not yet evident.

Read the whole document at the link below. For further questions, please contact Benedict William GROMANN, Policy Manager, ETNO (gromann@etno.eu) or Pierantonio RIZZO, Director EU Affairs, GSMA (prizzo@gsma.com).

 

 

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