Big day for big tech in Washington, D.C. today. The Next Web has two bills targeting tech headed to committee this week - the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and the Open App Markets Act. That first one goes for markup today, according to a piece from Punchbowl. Proposed in the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, according to The Next Web:
“The act says companies should allow competing businesses the same access to features and operating systems as the platforms’ own apps.” That would, for example, give Spotify the same system-level access as Apple Music on iOS.
Users should be allowed to remove pre-installed apps from their devices. Theoretically, that levels the playing field between third-party developers and soup-to-nuts shops like Apple and Google.
And, the piece says, “The bill also prohibits these firms from taking advantage of non-public data to boost their own products, or making their own products more prominently visible in front of customers.”
As for the Open Apps Market Act, a piece from 9 to 5 Mac outlines changes it would bring. According to that report:
Competing app stores would be allowed on iPhones and Android phones
Consumers would choose which app store app to download
Consumers would choose their default apps
Apple and Google would not be allowed to do anything to give their own app stores an advantage
Personally, I find it difficult to keep track of which of these bills does what - in part, I think, because Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) is a cosponsor of both. Whatever the case, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act seems to be the one that’s riled a couple of CEO’s. The Punchbowl piece referenced earlier has senate aids saying that both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai “have been calling and meeting with senators on the Judiciary panel, urging them to oppose this new legislation…” That piece goes on to say:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has circulated a letter urging lawmakers to vote no. A number of the major tech players – Microsoft, Google, Twitter, Apple, Spotify and Amazon – have all disclosed that they’re lobbying on the proposal.
Arguing against Apple and Google, The Next Web says, “a group of companies, including Basecamp, DuckDuckGo, Genius, Quora, and Sonos wrote a letter to the committee to support the bill.” Of course, Apple and Google are against it. In addition to the on-the-QT phone calls from the CEOs, a piece from MacRumors has Apple lumping the two bills together and calling them bad for consumers.
I will say, Apple lumping them together makes me feel better about not being able to keep them separated.
Citing a letter it’s seen from Timothy Powderly, Apple’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, to the Senate Judiciary Committee, MacRumors has Powderly arguing that the bills would “‘hurt competition and discourage innovation’ by making it ‘much harder’ to protect the privacy and security of personal devices in the United States.” Quoting the letter:
These bills will reward those who have been irresponsible with users' data and empower bad actors who would target consumers with malware, ransomware, and scams. […]
The bills put consumers in harm's way because of the real risk of privacy and security breaches. In addition to making privacy and security protections nearly impossible to defend, the bills would actually allow predators and scammers to side-step Apple's privacy and security protections completely. This circumvention is possible because the bills would mandate "sideloading," or the direct installation of software from the internet in a way that circumvents the privacy and security protections Apple has designed, including human review of every app and every app update.
MacRumors goes on to say:
Apple says that the bill would be a “big win for those who would profit by collecting even more personal information,” and that “millions of Americans” could be deceived into installing unwanted malicious software and would suffer preventable malware attacks. Regulators “should not ignore” the benefits that consumers receive from Apple.
Google hasn’t been silent, by the way. The Next Web says the search giant “published a long blog post listing several negative consequences of these bills…” In part, Google said:
There are important discussions taking place about the rules of the road for the modern economy. We believe that updating technology regulations in areas like privacy, AI, and protections for kids and families could provide real benefits. But breaking our products wouldn’t address any of these issues.
The way Punchbowl sees it, “the odds of it getting approved by Judiciary are very good. Whether it can get through the full Senate is another matter.”
