Republican Florida Representative Kat Cammack introduced legislation this week aimed at curbing the market power of dominant mobile app store operators, specifically targeting companies like Apple and Google.
The bill, titled the “App Store Freedom Act,” eyes new requirements and prohibitions on large app marketplaces to foster greater competition and developer flexibility.
The proposed legislation, formally introduced in the House of Representatives, was referred to the appropriate committee for consideration.
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According to the bill text, the “App Store Freedom Act” is designed “To prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the app marketplace, and for other purposes.”
It defines “covered companies” as those owning or controlling an app store with over 100 million U.S. users and the operating system on which that app store operates – Apple and Google.
Mandating Interoperability: Covered companies would be required to allow users to choose third-party apps or app stores as defaults, install apps or app stores through means other than the covered company’s store (often referred to as sideloading), and hide or delete pre-installed apps or app stores.
Promoting Open App Development: The bill would require covered companies to provide developers with timely, cost-free access to the same interfaces, hardware, and software features available to the covered company’s own developers, along with sufficient documentation.
Prohibiting Anticompetitive Practices: The legislation would ban covered companies from:
- Requiring developers to use their in-app payment systems or mandating price parity across different app stores as a condition for being listed.
- Taking punitive action against developers for using alternative payment systems or offering different pricing elsewhere.
- Restricting developers’ communication with users about legitimate business offers, including pricing or service terms, subject to user consent rules that apply equally to the covered company.
- Using nonpublic business information derived from developers’ apps to compete against those apps.
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The bill outlines enforcement mechanisms primarily involving the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and State Attorneys General.
Violations would be treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the FTC Act, subject to standard FTC enforcement powers and potentially an additional civil penalty of up to $1,000,000 per violation. State Attorneys General would also be empowered to bring civil actions on behalf of their residents.
The “App Store Freedom Act” clarifies that it would preempt state laws that conflict with its requirements or prohibitions, but explicitly states it does not preempt state laws related to contracts, torts, general unfair competition, fraud, or data security/breach notification.
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