Senators introduce bipartisan antitrust bill to promote app store competition
I think many people here will be supportive of the proposed &quot;Open App Markets Act&quot; [1]. I found the bill to be fairly comprehensive, here are the excerpts I found most interesting:<p><i>&gt; COVERED COMPANY.—The term ‘‘Covered Company’’ means any person that owns or controls an App Store for which users in the United States exceed 50,000,000.</i><p><i>&gt; SEC. 3. PROTECTING A COMPETITIVE APP MARKET. (a) EXCLUSIVITY AND TYING. A Covered Company shall not:</i><p><i>&gt; (1) require developers to use an In-App Payment System owned or controlled by the Covered Company or any of its business partners as a condition of being distributed on an App Store or accessible on an operating system</i><p><i>&gt; (2) require as a term of distribution on an App Store that pricing terms or conditions of sale be equal to or more favorable on its App Store than the terms or conditions under another App Store </i><p><i>&gt; (3) take punitive action or otherwise impose less favorable terms and conditions against a developer for using or offering different pricing terms or conditions of sale through another In-App Payment System or on another App Store. </i><p><i>&gt; (b) INTERFERENCE WITH LEGITIMATE BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS. A Covered Company shall not impose restrictions on communications of developers with the users of the App through an App or direct outreach to a user concerning legitimate business offers, such as pricing terms and product or service offerings. </i><p><i>&gt; (d) INTEROPERABILITY. A Covered Company that controls the operating system or operating system configuration on which its App Store operates shall allow and provide the readily accessible means for users of that operating system to:</i><p><i>&gt; (1) choose third-party Apps or App Stores as defaults for categories appropriate to the App or App Store</i><p><i>&gt; (2) install third-party Apps or App Stores through means other than its App Store</i><p><i>&gt; (3) hide or delete Apps or App Stores provided or preinstalled by the App Store owner or any of its business partners. </i><p><i>&gt; (e) SELF-PREFERENCING IN SEARCH. (1) A Covered Company shall not provide unequal treatment of Apps in an App Store through unreasonably preferencing or ranking the Apps of the Covered Company or any of its business partners over those of other Apps. Unreasonably preferencing - (A) includes applying ranking schemes or algorithms that prioritize Apps based on a criterion of ownership interest by the Covered Company or its business partners; and (B) does not include clearly disclosed advertising. </i><p><i>&gt; (f) OPEN APP DEVELOPMENT. Access to operating system interfaces, development information, and hardware and software features shall be provided to developers on a timely basis and on terms that are equivalent or functionally-equivalent to the terms for access by similar Apps or functions provided by the Covered Company or to its business partners. </i><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.blumenthal.senate.gov&#x2F;imo&#x2F;media&#x2F;doc&#x2F;8.11.21 - Open App Markets Act - Bill Text.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.blumenthal.senate.gov&#x2F;imo&#x2F;media&#x2F;doc&#x2F;8.11.21 -%...</a>