CEOs tell Senate to rein in app store power © Getty A coalition of tech executives are urging members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support a bill aimed at reining in the market power of Apple and Google’s app stores. Who signed: CEOs of 20 tech companies, including Spotify, Basecamp and Tile, wrote a letter to the committee members Thursday asking them to back the bipartisan Open Markets Act. “Fair and open competition is the driving force behind a well-functioning free market. But today, mobile app marketplace gatekeepers use a vice-like grip to control developers and impose terms and conditions that undermine competition, throttle innovation, limit consumer choice, and lead to higher prices,” the CEOs wrote. The letter was part of a push by the Coalition for App Fairness, an industry group for app developers. The proposal, co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), is scheduled for a committee mark up on Tuesday. Take two: It had been on the committee’s schedule to debate last week, but ultimately was withheld after the senators voted to advance a different antitrust bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. App developers have criticized Apple and Google over what they deem to be anticompetitive app store rules. The tech giants have defended their rules, saying they help promote security and safety for consumers. Read more here. |
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