Proposed Legislation Could Force Apple And Google To Give Up Some Control Over Their App Stores

Right now, if you wanted to purchase something from either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store, you’d have to use either Apple or Google’s payment system. For the most part this is fine for end-users, but less-so for developers who are typically forced to give a cut to either company as a result.

This 30% cut is being contested right now and over in the US, a bipartisan group of US senators have introduced legislation that could ultimately force Apple and Google to give up some control over their app stores.

The legislation is penned by Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and is also co-sponsored by Amy Klobuchar, who is the chair of the Senate antitrust subcommittee.

One of the provisions of the legislation is a clause that would effectively prevent app store marketplace owners, like Apple and Google, from forcing developers to use a payment system that they own. If this sounds familiar, it is because it is similar legislation that was introduced in South Korea about a week ago.

Of course, whether or not this will be passed into law remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that there is a mounting pressure on companies like Apple and Google to ultimately reduce the cut that they get and to give developers more control.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Android, Apps, Google, iOS, Legal