Sec. 3. Protecting a competitive app market
425 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/7030/ih/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
A covered company shall not— require developers to use or enable an in-app payment system owned or controlled by the covered company or any of its business partners as a condition of the distribution of an app on an app store or accessible on an operating system; require as a term of distribution on an app store that pricing terms or conditions of sale be equal to or more favorable on its app store than the terms or conditions under another app store; or take punitive action or otherwise impose less favorable terms and conditions against a developer for using or offering different pricing terms or conditions of sale through another in-app payment system or on another app store.
A covered company shall not impose restrictions on communications of developers with the users of an app of the developer through the app or direct outreach to a user concerning legitimate business offers, such as pricing terms and product or service offerings. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a covered company from providing a user the option to offer consent prior to the collection and sharing of the data of the user by an app. A covered company shall not use nonpublic business information derived from a third-party app for the purpose of competing with that app.
A covered company that controls the operating system or operating system configuration on which its app store operates shall allow and provide readily accessible means for users of that operating system to— choose third-party apps or app stores as defaults for categories appropriate to the app or app store; install third-party apps or app stores through means other than its app store; and hide or delete apps or app stores provided or preinstalled by the app store owner or any of its business partners.
A covered company shall not provide unequal treatment of apps in an app store through unreasonably preferencing or ranking the apps of the covered company or any of its business partners over those of other apps in organic search results. Unreasonably preferencing— includes applying ranking schemes or algorithms that prioritize apps based on a criterion of ownership interest by the covered company or its business partners; and does not include clearly disclosed advertising. A covered company shall provide access to operating system interfaces, development information, and hardware and software features to developers on a timely basis and on terms that are equivalent or functionally equivalent to the terms for access by similar apps or functions provided by the covered company or to its business partners.