Three United States senators have introduced a bill that strikes at the "grand intimidation of technologys" (big tech bullying).
The Open App Markets Act, introduced by Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar and Republican Marsha Blackburn, is taking aim at Apple and Google and their respective app stores.
The senators say the bill aims to establish fair and clear regulations to protect competition and strengthen consumer protection in the app market.
In a statement, they said that Apple and Google have the role of gatekeepers of the two dominant mobile operating systems. They stated that their respective app stores solely dictate its terms market of applications, hindering competition and limiting consumer choice.
Blumenthal expects the legislation will inevitably break down anti-competitive walls in the application economy, giving consumers more choice and giving smaller start-ups a chance.
"For years, Apple and Google crushed their competitors and kept consumers in the dark, making big profits while acting as ostensibly well-meaning guardians of this multi-billion dollar market," he said, referring to the bill as "a huge blow to of big tech bullying ”.
“This bipartisan bill will help to break the hold of these technological giants, to open up the application economy to new competitors and give to users mobile more control over their own devices”.
"Apple and Google want to prevent developers and consumers from using third-party app stores that would threaten their own. Their anti-competitive behavior is a direct attack on a free and fair market. "Senator Blumenthal, Klobuchar, and I are committed to ensuring that American consumers and small businesses are not punished by Big Tech domination," said Marsha Blackburn.
