New US bill could cause some serious cracks in Apple's walled garden — and allow third-party app stores

Last year saw the EU deliver a major blow to Apple's walled garden, with the Digital Market Act (DMA) forcing the phone maker to allow third-party app stores onto iOS. Apple complied with the legislation only in the EU. But could DMA-style changes happen in the U.S. as well?

Kat Cammack, a representative from Florida's 3rd district, has proposed this with the "App Store Freedom Act". The goal here is to "promote competition and protect consumers and developers" by "prohibiting certain anticompetitive practices by dominant app store operators."

The bill doesn't mention Apple by name, only mentioning that the rules would target "large app store operators" — those with over 100 million users. That means Google could be in the crosshairs as well, though the third-party app store issue is more or less irrelevant on Android.

It's more than just app stores

However, other provisions in this bill affect companies and any other app store that may arise in the coming years.

Not only are they required to allow third-party app stores to be installed, but users should also be able to set those app stores as the default. Developers are also supposed to get equal access to development tools, and app stores should allow the use of third-party payment systems.

Some mentioned provisions are already in effect, though. One example is allowing users to remove or hide pre-installed apps, which both Apple and Google already do.

Breaking any of these new rules could lead to fines by the FTC, with additional penalties up to $1 million per violation. It's not quite the financial hit as the DMA allows fines up to 10% of a company's global revenue — with that maximum rising to 20% for repeated infringements. But it's better than nothing.

What this means

The crucial thing about this isn't that this is potential federal legislation. While certain states have implemented rules about technology, such as California's right to repair bill, these rules would affect the entire United States.

If it passes through all the wheels of government and the White House unchanged, it would be a serious blow for big tech companies — especially Apple.

Thanks to recent court rulings, the company has already had to make some rule changes about App Store payments, but putting those rules into law would be a huge blow to Apple's walled garden.

Whether that will actually happen is another matter entirely. Turning a bill into a law takes time, and in the process, various things can and do change. So we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out over the coming months.

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