Source: United States Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
Klobuchar: “We have to put some rules of the road in place to allow the next Apple and the next Google to bring our next round of innovations.”
WASHINGTON – At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights, highlighted the urgent need to pass the Open App Markets Act to protect competition and strengthen consumer protections within the app market.
“We have let these largest app stores owned and run by digital giants act anti-competitively for far too long,” said Klobuchar. “You can still believe in the work they’ve done, the people they employ, the innovation, and believe that we still have to put some rules of the road in place to allow the next Apple and the next Google to bring our next round of innovations.”
Klobuchar introduced the Open App Markets Act with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in August. This legislation would protect developers’ rights to tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing; open up competitive avenues for startup apps, third party app stores, and payment services; make it possible for developers to offer new experiences that take advantage of consumer device features; give consumers more control over their devices; and prevent app stores from disadvantaging developers who compete with them, all while enabling companies to continue to protect privacy, security, and safety of consumers.
In April, Klobuchar chaired a Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights hearing on the need to assess competition within the app economy, calling attention to Apple and Google’s dominance in the market.
The full transcript of Klobuchar’s opening is given below and video is available for TV download HERE and online viewing HERE.
I would like to thank Chair Durbin for listing the Open App Markets Act for a vote today as well as Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn for their leadership on this bill.
I just want to reiterate their thoughts that this is about restoring competition and reducing costs for consumers. Apple and Google basically operate twin monopolies in app distribution through their app stores. They’re using their market power to charge up to a 30 percent tax on competing app developers. That’s what’s happening. And in response to some of the issues raised by colleagues about privacy, and my colleagues did address these, but I did want to note that we’ve heard from many experts on this topic–Senator Lee and I had an excellent hearing that many of you participated in–including the Electronic Frontier Foundation Consumer Reports, a security expert, and one expert noted that, “It’s simply not true that this legislation puts user privacy and security at risk. The companies’ claims about risk to privacy and security are both false and disingenuous.”
We have let these largest app stores owned and run by digital giants act anti-competitively for far too long. Yes, we’re proud of these companies. I have one of their phones. That’s okay. You can still believe in the work they’ve done, the people they employ, the innovation, and believe that we still have to put some rules of the road in place to allow the next Apple and the next Google to bring our next round of innovations.
Thank you very much.
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