Three US senators have introduced a bill that would limit the power of tech companies such as Google and Apple in their app stores. According to the bill, developers must be able to use their own payment systems, among other things.
In the bill, which is called the Open App Markets Act, it is written, among other things, that tech companies should not force developers to use their payment systems. “A company should not require developers to use an in-app payment system owned or controlled by the company or any of its business partners.”
According to the proposal, the makers of app stores are also not allowed to take action against developers who offer lower prices in another app store or via their own payment system. The senators also want to require companies that make an operating system to allow users to install third-party app stores. This is already possible on Android, but Apple does not allow it on iOS and iPadOS.
The bill would further make it illegal for companies like Apple and Google to use non-public data from their app stores to develop products that compete with companies that use those app stores to distribute their apps. “A company may not use non-public business data that comes from a third-party app for the purpose of competing with that app,” the bill reads.
The proposal does leave room for the makers of app stores to defend themselves. According to the bill, a company is not in violation if it can demonstrate that a policy is ‘necessary to ensure the privacy, security or digital safety of users’. An app store’s policy must be demonstrably consistent for apps from all developers, including those of the company behind the app store itself. Moreover, the policy must not be used as a pretext to exclude third parties and the company must be able to prove that guaranteeing the privacy and security of users cannot be done in any other way.
The bill would apply to all tech companies that operate a large app store, but US Senator Richard Blumenthal is targeting in an explanation specifically on Apple and Google. “For years, Apple and Google have outsmarted competitors and left consumers in the dark. They have reaped hefty profits while acting as supposedly benevolent gatekeepers of this multibillion-dollar market. I am proud to partner with Senators Blackburn and Klobuchar in making this breakthrough. against the harassment of Big Tech,” the senator writes.
With the bill, the three senators take the same position as Epic Games, which is currently embroiled in lawsuits against Apple and Google. Those two companies removed Fortnite from their respective app stores after Epic Games incorporated its own payment system into that game to avoid commissions from Apple and Google. The first hearings in the lawsuit against Apple were held in May and a ruling in that case is expected later this year. The lawsuit between Epic Games and Google has yet to start.