“A bill to promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the app economy, increase choice, improve quality, and reduce costs for consumers.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) "app" as a software application run on consumer computing devices; (2) "app store" as a service distributing third-party apps to such devices; (3) "covered company" as a person controlling an app store with over 50 million monthly U.S. users and the related operating system; (4) "developer" as a person owning or controlling an app or app store; (5) "in-app payment system" as a billing or payment processing interface for apps; and (6) "nonpublic business information" as nonpublic developer data collected by covered companies via app stores or operating systems.
This section prohibits covered companies from (1) requiring developers to use the company's or its partners' in-app payment system as a condition for app distribution on an app store or operating system access; (2) mandating that pricing on its app store match or be more favorable than on other app stores; or (3) penalizing developers for offering alternative pricing, using other payment systems or app stores, or providing remote access to third-party apps or games. It further prohibits covered companies from (1) restricting developers' communications with users about business offers (while allowing requirements for user consent on data collection and sharing); (2) using nonpublic information from third-party apps to compete against those apps; and (3) unreasonably preferring their own or partners' apps in app store search rankings, algorithms, or interfaces (excluding clearly disclosed advertising). This section requires covered companies controlling an operating system to enable users to (1) set third-party apps or stores as defaults; (2) install them outside the company's store; and (3) hide or delete the company's or partners' preinstalled apps or stores. It also requires such companies to provide developers with timely, equivalent access to, and documentation for, generally available operating system interfaces, hardware, and software features.
This section establishes exceptions to section 3 for covered companies taking actions that are (1) necessary to achieve user privacy or security (including allowing end-user opt-in with risk information prior to third-party app installation, removing malicious or fraudulent apps or app stores, verifying third-party app authenticity and origin, and enabling end users to limit device access or data collection and sharing); (2) to prevent spam or fraud; (3) necessary to prevent unlawful infringement of preexisting intellectual property; or (4) to prevent a violation of or comply with federal or state law. These exceptions apply only if the covered company establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the action is applied consistently to the company's and its business partners' apps as well as other apps, is narrowly tailored with no less discriminatory technically feasible alternative, and is certified under penalty of perjury by the principal executive officer(s) (per 28 U.S.C. 1746) as not a pretext to exclude or impose unnecessary or discriminatory terms on third-party apps, in-app payment systems, or alternative app stores.
This section authorizes enforcement of the Act by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Attorney General, and state attorneys general (subject to notice requirements), incorporating applicable terms of the Federal Trade Commission Act, Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and Antitrust Civil Process Act; grants the FTC independent authority to bring civil actions for penalties and relief against covered companies; and permits state attorneys general to bring parens patriae actions on behalf of state residents. The section further allows suits by injured developers (except those for apps owned or controlled by a foreign state) for treble damages, costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and simple interest in specified circumstances, as well as injunctive relief with prevailing-party fees upon a proper showing.
This section directs the Federal Trade Commission, the Comptroller General of the United States, and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice to each separately review and provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of this Act on competition, innovation, barriers to entry, and concentrations of market power or market share, not later than three years after the date of enactment.
This section provides a rule of construction specifying that nothing in the Act may be construed (1) to limit the authority of the Attorney General or Federal Trade Commission under antitrust laws (as defined in 15 U.S.C. 12), the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), or other laws, or the application of any law; (2) to require a covered company to provide hardware or software warranty service for damage caused by third-party apps or app stores installed other than through the covered company's app store, or customer service for such installation or operation; (3) to prevent a covered company from taking actions reasonably tailored to protect third-party rights under specified copyright provisions (17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 1101, 1201, 1401) or trademark provisions (15 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 1125) or corollary state law; (4) to require a covered company to license its intellectual property, including trade secrets; (5) to prevent a covered company from asserting preexisting intellectual property rights against unlawful use; or (6) to require a covered company to interoperate or share data with entities on U.S. sanctions or export control lists, identified national security risks (including the government of the People's Republic of China or a foreign adversary as defined in 47 U.S.C. 1607(c)), or those engaged in illegal or fraudulent activity.
This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of the Act, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remaining provisions and their applications remain unaffected.