[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 188 (Monday, December 5, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6953-S6954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Open App Markets Act

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, this past February, the Senate 
Judiciary Committee agreed 20 to 2 to pass the Open App Markets Act. 
This is a piece of legislation I put together with Senator Blumenthal 
to stop tech giants from stifling competition in the app store 
marketplace.
  Through their control of the app stores on consumer devices as well 
as the device operating systems themselves, Apple and Google have 
become the gatekeepers of information. They do this by physically 
locking down the devices they control, making it near impossible to 
access competing content.
  Apple fully prevents consumers from accessing third-party apps and 
app stores on their mobile devices. Google allows more access to 
outside apps but makes the process so difficult that they might as well 
lock down their devices the way Apple is locking down the iPhone.
  These companies claim that these restrictions make your devices more 
secure, but they don't apply the same policies to their laptops and 
other similar consumer devices; it is only on the iPhone and on the 
Android. Why would that be? Now, I don't know for sure, but I do know 
this: By locking down their mobile devices, Apple and Google can force 
app developers to abide by their terms no matter how harsh those terms 
may be.
  Recently, Daniel Eck, who is the founder and CEO of Spotify, said: 
``Over and over again, Apple gives itself every advantage while at the 
same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers.'' Elon Musk, now 
the CEO of Twitter, has criticized the 30-percent ``tax'' that Apple 
and Google take from developers.
  What is more, app creators can't go to consumers themselves to offer 
them a better deal because that kind of contact is forbidden by Apple 
and Google in their terms of service. Think about it. You can't even 
reach out to the people who have your app because Apple and Google 
forbid you, the developer, from contacting the consumer who is using 
your app.
  Consider the positions startup developers are placed in. Imagine 
trying to get your business off the ground in a market where two major 
players control access to your potential customers. There is no other 
market, and you can't negotiate with them, so you are forced to play by 
the rules the gatekeepers are forcing on you. Under those rules, the 
gatekeepers control your access to your customers. They use your 
confidential business information against you and block you from using 
the features on your customers' device to give them a better 
experience.
  I heard just this story from a Tennessean named Karen Thomas, who is 
the CEO of Agrin Health in Nashville. Listen to the way she describes 
how Apple held her company's app hostage. I am quoting her story.

       They demanded changes that would eliminate Agrin's paid 
     functions in its web app and stopped Karen from updating her 
     mobile app--which was free--until she began charging 
     consumers through Apple's in-app payment system. This, again, 
     would let Apple take a 30% cut of every subscription Agrin 
     received.

  That is the ``Apple tax'' in action.
  Karen said:


[[Page S6954]]


  

       Our app and our mission was set to die at the hands of 
     Apple unless our infant company came up with hundreds of 
     thousands of dollars to reconfigure our service delivery 
     while losing 30% of associated revenue--and we are not alone.

  It doesn't matter if you are a startup or an established company: 
When it comes to the digital economy, you depend on Apple and Google to 
stay alive because they control your access to your customers. They are 
the gatekeepers of your information.
  Now, the Open App Markets Act made it out of committee and almost 
unanimously received that vote--as I said, 20 to 2. Republicans and 
Democrats agree that this is not the way a healthy marketplace should 
be working. That is why we got that near-unanimous vote.
  This bill needs a vote because it will set the fair, clear, and 
enforceable rules needed to protect the competition. It will force Big 
Tech to allow third-party apps and app stores on their devices. App 
store owners won't be able to lock developers into in-app payment 
arrangements anymore, which opens the door to competitive pricing. 
Developers will also be able to keep their confidential business 
information private. Imagine having to share your information--somebody 
else controls it--and they use your business information to compete 
against you. Most importantly, the developers will be able to 
communicate with their customers, which for any business owner is key 
to creating a strong product or service.
  I think it has become clear that the American people know how much 
Big Tech is controlling their lives, but they are no longer content to 
sit by and let these companies consolidate power, especially at the 
expense of freedom and basic human rights.

  Over the past few weeks, we have watched the Chinese people revolt 
against Xi Jinping's ``zero-COVID'' lockdowns. Much of the coverage has 
come to us via apps we have downloaded on our phone. But for the 
protesters in China, their use of tech is a double-edged sword.
  We know the Chinese Communist Party is using apps and other forms of 
technology to identify and surveil and ultimately punish the protesters 
in China. People are being tracked via their virtual private networks 
and through apps like Signal and Telegram.
  For activists with iPhones, their options are now even more limited. 
Before the protests boiled over, Apple made the unforgivable choice to 
disable the AirDrop feature in China only. That is right--the only 
place on the face of the Earth that Apple decided to disable AirDrop 
was in China, just prior to the protests.
  This feature was an activist's best friend because it allowed one 
person to share files with an entire local network with no way for the 
government to come in and monitor what they were sending. It was a game 
changer, and Apple decided to flip the switch.
  When reporters asked Apple's CEO Tim Cook last week if he supported 
the protesters in China, he refused to answer. Now, I agree, this is 
incomprehensible--until you remember that China is Apple's largest 
market outside of the United States, and it is a major source for 
Apple's supply chain. In fact, both Apple and Google have a long 
history of giving authoritarian governments everything that they ask 
for. Last fall, both companies acted on Moscow's orders and removed an 
app designed to coordinate protest voting in the Russian elections.
  My colleagues may remember the scandal that was the 2022 Beijing 
Winter Olympic's app. The Chinese Communist Party forced all the 
athletes and coaches and spectators to use this app. They didn't have a 
choice. Both Apple and Google listed it on their phones even though 
they knew the CCP was using it to spy on their customers.
  This isn't mere gatekeeping; this is picking winners and losers in an 
environment where the losers could end up dead because of the decisions 
these companies are making.
  When I first started working on this bill with Senator Blumenthal, I 
received letters from several human rights organizations thanking me 
for paying attention to how these companies were using their power. We 
know that Apple has plans to move some of their production out of 
China, so perhaps some day, the Chinese Communist Party will have less 
of a stranglehold on free communication around the world. But I would 
remind my colleagues that moving the chess pieces of production, while 
vitally important, does not fully address the problem we are trying to 
solve with the Open App Markets Act. Think of everything that happened 
before Apple decided to speed up this transition. We don't have time to 
put this bill on a shelf while China and Big Tech work out their 
differences.
  The digital marketplace is no longer a novelty; it is an essential 
service that billions of people rely on. In 2020, U.S. consumers spent 
nearly $33 billion in mobile app stores and downloaded more than 13.4 
billion apps. Two companies exclusively dictate the terms of that 
market. They have certainly made it clear that their power comes first, 
their profits are more important, and the customers are at the end of 
the list. They are last on the list of concerns.
  Every day, I hear from Tennesseans who have realized just how little 
control they have over their mobile device. They live half of their 
lives on their device, and they are no longer comfortable letting Apple 
and Google dictate the terms of their interactions with the rest of the 
world.
  We shouldn't be comfortable with allowing that to continue. I would 
encourage my colleagues to join with Senator Blumenthal and with me and 
support this legislation. Let's get it passed and to the President's 
desk.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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