By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 2-3-22
The Senate Judiciary Committee has overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, according to its sponsors, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). The vote was 21-1 – Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was the only nay – to favorably report the bill to a vote in the full Senate.
The legislation is billed by Blumenthal as “breaking Apple and Google’s ironclad grip on the multibillion-dollar app market,” including by stopping predatory fees on consumers and lowering barriers to rivals. Blackburn called it a response to market failure. She said she was not saying Big Tech is bad, but that it was clear that guard rails are now needed. » Read More