Apple urges U.S. Senate to reject bill that mandates third-party app stores

Apple on Thursday urged top U.S. lawmakers to reject an “antitrust” bill proposed by a Senate committee that would mandate third-party app stores.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

The company said the bill, S. 2710, would harm user security and privacy, create expansive liability exposure and legal uncertainty, and would deny consumer choice. The company made the statements in a letter, obtained by Bloomberg News, that was sent to Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin and ranking Republican Chuck Grassley ahead of their committee’s discussion of the bill.
“We are deeply concerned that the legislation, unless amended, would make it easier for big social media platforms to avoid the pro-consumer practices of Apple’s App Store, and allow them to continue business as usual,” Tim Powderly, the company’s head of government affairs in the Americas, wrote in the letter.
“Sideloading would enable bad actors to evade Apple’s privacy and security protections by distributing apps without critical privacy and security checks,” he said. “These provisions would allow malware, scams and data-exploitation to proliferate.”

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last August:
Yes, by all means, let’s turn the Garden of Eden into a glorious combination of the streets of Detroit and Chicago. Makes tons of sense.
“Hey, let’s dramatically increase the potential for malicious code and behavior on Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV!”
“What a great idea!” exclaim [these] idiot U.S. Senators.
We await the U.S. Senate bills that force Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation to allow third-party app stores with bated breath.
Spotify, Epic Games, etc.’s demand they should be able to advertise alternative deals within their iOS app is a practice that no store in the world allows.
The fact is that when Sony sells TVs in Best Buy, they’re not allowed to place placards next to each unit that say the same unit is cheaper at Target, along with QR codes that launch Amazon’s app offering the exact same TV at a lower price.
Once again, Spotify et al. want all the benefits of the App Store for free.
Of course, we’re all for Apple allowing app developers to inform users that the App Store isn’t their only shopping option, as long as Spotify, Epic Games or any other developer simply pay Apple a 15% – 30% advertising fee for each sale they make as a result of being offered the alternative payment option via Apple’s App Store.