There is mounting political opposition to the way that Apple and Google distribute apps through their various stores.
Three US senators introduced a bill to promote competition in the app store space, which Apple and Google currently dominate.
The Open App Markets Act, sponsored by Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, aims to set “fair, clear, and enforceable rules” to protect competition within the app market, and to strengthen customer protection.
If the Bill gets through the Senate it will prevent large app stores (with 50 million+ US users) from requiring developers to use their own payment system. It will also prevent them from punishing developers that offer different conditions or prices through alternative app stores.
The bill also aims to keep app stores from disadvantaging certain developers and allow for the growth of third-party app stores.
The main targets are Google and Apple enjoy ‘gatekeeper control’ of the two main mobile operating systems, Android and iOS, as well as their app stores, which restricts consumer choices.
Blumenthal expects that the new legislation will “tear down coercive anticompetitive walls in the app economy” and will give consumers more choices.
It would also give smaller tech firms a “fighting chance”, he said.
In March, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was investigating Apple over complaints that the company’s terms and conditions for app developers are unfair and anti-competitive.
The company is also facing a probe by the Dutch competition authorities, who are nearing a draft decision.
The European Commission has four ongoing antitrust investigations into Apple, three of which involve the App Store.
