By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to approve a bill that would rein in app stores of companies they said exert too much market control, particularly Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
The measure, sponsored by Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar along with Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, would bar big app stores from requiring providers to use their payment system. It would also prohibit them from punishing apps that offer different prices or conditions through another store or payment system.
The bill was passed after including an amendment that addressed some concerns that the measure would hurt users’ privacy or online security.
Apple said in a letter sent to key lawmakers that the measure favored “side-loading,” or loading apps on to Apple devices without using the company’s App Store, which would allow those app companies to avoid what the letter called Apple’s “pro-consumer privacy protections.”
Google also opposes the bill.
“We’ve made our concerns to Congress clear. This bill could destroy many consumer benefits that current payment systems provide and distort competition by exempting gaming platforms, which amounts to Congress trying to artificially pick winners and losers in a highly competitive marketplace,” said Mark Isakowitz, a Google vice president for public policy.
The stakes are high for Apple, whose App Store anchors its $68.4 billion services business as the smartphone market has matured.
The biggest technology companies, including Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook and Amazon.com, have been under pressure in Congress because of allegations they abused their outsized market power. A long list of bills is aimed at reining them in, but none have become law.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Mark Porter)
