U.S. lawmakers introduce bill to curb Apple and Google app stores from unauthorized third parties in the U.S. Senate.
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan trio of senators introduced a bill that would rein in the app stores of companies they said exert too much market control, including Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google.
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn, both Democrats, teamed up with Senate Majority Leader Marissa Blackburn to sponsor the bill, which would bar big app shops from requiring app providers to install their payment system. It would also stop them from punishing apps which offer different prices or conditions via another app store or payment system.
I found this deeply offensive abuse of Apple and Google so deeply predatory on so many levels, Blumenthal said in an interview on Wednesday. Their power has reached a point where they are effecting the whole economy in stifling and strangling innovation.
Blumenthal said he expected companion legislation to be brought right away into the House of Representatives.
The bill would also bar non-public apps from publicly promoting their app as competitors with them.
Tile, which makes tags to help consumers find lost objects, complained earlier this year about Apple AirTags as a competitor product.
Apple's control over the apps that enter its app platform and its commissions of 15% to 30% on digital sales have come under regulatory scrutiny. A federal judge is reviewing testimony on this issue to rule on an antitrust suit brought by Fortnite creator Epic Games.
Epic also sued Google for its app store practices, and a group of state attorneys general alleging that it unlawfully worked to maintain monopoly on its Android app store.