H.R. 3209: App Store Freedom Act

The bill targets one arrangement: a single company controlling both the software your device runs on and the store you get apps from. It doesn't name any company. It covers anyone whose app store tops 100 million U.S. users and who also controls the operating system underneath it.

On a covered platform, you could install apps and whole app stores from outside the company's own store, make a rival store your default, and hide or delete the apps the company pre-installed. Developers would get access to the same operating system features and hardware the platform gives itself and its business partners, free and on equal terms, along with the documentation needed to use them.

Platforms could not force developers to use their in-app payment system, or demand that an app's prices be no higher than on competing stores. They also could not block or charge developers for telling users about deals elsewhere, and could not use private data gathered from an app to build a competing product.

The bill builds in limits. Platforms wouldn't owe warranty repairs or customer support for problems caused by outside apps, wouldn't have to license their patents or trade secrets, and could still act to protect copyrights and trademarks. They also wouldn't have to share data with sanctioned entities, foreign adversary governments such as China's, or apps controlled by a foreign adversary.

The FTC would enforce the rules as it does its consumer protection regulations, with an added civil penalty of up to $1 million per violation. State attorneys general could sue in federal court after notifying the FTC. A single federal standard would override state laws covering the same conduct, while state contract, tort, fraud, and data breach laws stay in place. The law would take effect only once the FTC issues compliance guidance, which is due within 180 days of enactment.