Apple and Google are preparing to tackle a new invoice from the App Store
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“This legislation will break down anti-competitive barriers in the app economy, giving consumers more opportunities and smaller start-up tech companies to fight,” Blumenthal said.
What the bill does
The invoice covers companies that own or control a business App store With at least 50 million users in the U.S., of course, it’s aimed at Apple and Google. Companies should “provide and provide users with easy-to-access tools” to “choose third-party apps or app stores as the default for the app or app store categories” and “install third-party apps or app stores through resources” other than their App Store. “Apple and Google should” hide or delete apps or app stores provided or pre-installed by the App Store owner or one of its business partners. “
Android allows for side-loading and third-party app stores, while Apple strictly blocks iOS, but both companies will have to change their business practices to different levels if the law becomes law. Despite Android’s openness to iOS, there are 36 states sued Google last month, it said it worked to “prevent the removal” of competing app stores.
The Open App Markets Act will prohibit app store operators from using Apple and Google app payment systems for developers, and may set conditions that block or penalize developers who offer the same app elsewhere at a different price. Apple and Google will also not be allowed to improve their applications in a “reasonable” search, i.e., “apply classification schemes or algorithms that prioritize applications” solely because they are owned by Apple and Google or their business partners. Clearly published advertising is exempt from this provision.
To support third-party software developers, the bill states that Apple and Google must provide developers with “access to operating system interfaces, development information, and hardware and software features” “on a timely and equivalent or functionally equivalent basis” to Apple and Google. or the terms and conditions that apply to their business partners.
Violations of the bill would be deemed to be methods of unfair competition under U.S. law. The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Attorney General and the state attorney general can sue the company for the violations. Developers who are injured for “anything prohibited in this action” may sue the company for damages and mandatory assistance.
Dealing with security
Most likely, Apple and Google would oppose the bill for security reasons. Apple in particular announced security benefits The iOS app model that prevents you from installing software outside the App Store. To address this issue, the Open Application Markets Act allows companies to impose restrictions designed solely for security purposes, although this is vaguely defined.
The bill says actions taken by app store operators would not violate the proposed law “if necessary to achieve user privacy, security or digital security; taken to prevent spam or fraud; or to enforce a federal or state law to prevent or enforce violations.” To achieve this exemption, Apple and Google should “establish by clear and credible evidence that the action described is consistently demonstrated in the applications of the covered company or its business partners and other applications; no excuse or unnecessary conditions or discrimination implemented in third-party applications, application payment systems, or application stores;
App Battle on the Way
The quick response from Apple and Google-funded teams to Wednesday’s announcement heralds another Capitol Hill fight if the bill goes ahead. Apple launched a “significant public relations push” in June to “open calls for regulators to open their doors to alternative app stores and iPhone app sides,” like us he wrote then. CEO Tim Cook said that side-loading is “not for the benefit of the user,” while another Apple executive claimed that “side-loading in this case is really an option” and described side-loading as the equivalent of “dark or side-by-side” app installation. . the road “.
When 36 states filed a lawsuit against Google’s monopoly last month, Google said no to the allegations and “it’s rare to file a lawsuit that attacks a system that offers more openness and opportunity than any group of state attorneys than others.” Meanwhile, there is “Coalition Apps Correctness” with members like Spotify, Epic Games, Match Group, Basecamp, ProtonMail and Deezer under the Open App Markets Act.
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