A new bill in Congress could give Americans more options for how they download apps on their devices amid antitrust scrutiny of the large app stores operated by Apple and Google.
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., introduced the App Store Freedom Act in May, which would require large app store operators with more than 100 million U.S. users to allow them to set third-party apps or app stores as their default while allowing users to remove or hide apps that were pre-installed on devices.
It would also require covered app store operators to provide developers with equal access to interfaces, features and development tools without cost or discrimination.
“This bill is all about having a free and open marketplace, really promoting consumer choice and options and just getting to what, you know, the American system is about: innovation,” Cammack told FOX Business in an interview.
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“Right now, we have two predominantly large marketplaces through both Google and Apple. And at this point in time, you have a lot of apps that, for many different reasons, are finding trouble being hosted in these app stores, or even complying,” she explained.
“There’s a lot of anti-competitive practices that have really dominated this space for years. So this bill seeks to rectify those wrongs and really open up a new option for consumers, which is to have the ability to have apps on a third party marketplace, but also to really address a lot of the anticompetitive practices that have dominated this space for so many years,” Cammack added.
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“It would allow consumers to be able to pull apps off that are predownloaded and sideload new marketplaces. I think this is important because there’s going to be marketplaces that will pop up that cater to certain demographics” she added.
Cammack emphasized her bill would allow users to put new marketplaces on their devices that could be tailored to meet certain needs, such as concerned parents who want to ensure their children are not able to download apps that expose them to inappropriate content.
“Parents are very concerned, rightfully so, about what their kids are being shown in a lot of these different apps, on social media,” she said.
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“On a lot of the gaming platforms, they’re seeing a lot of concerning content. So you’re going to start seeing marketplaces that cater particularly to parents and hosting apps that are specifically vetted and really appropriate for a particular age demographic,” Cammack explained. “I think that that new marketplace is on the cusp of being opened to consumers.”
“At the end of the day, as Americans, we want to see innovation,” she said. Cammack added that right now, there is a “marketplace that is completely dominated by two companies that also not only host the marketplace, but then they compete in the products as well,” noting various music and reading apps that have been developed.
Cammack said that she is working with lawmakers across the aisle in the House as well as with senators to build bipartisan and bicameral support for the bill, which she hopes will pick up steam after Congress is done dealing with Republicans’ reconciliation package with tax cuts.
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