POLICY
POLICY
POLICY
Arizona House passes bill to let app makers use their own payment processing
In what could have major consequences for Google LLC and Apple Inc., the Arizona House of Representatives voted 31-29 today to advance a bill that would let app makers create their own payment processing systems.
If HB 2005 becomes law, it will force companies that have app stores that see more than a million downloads a year to give developers the opportunity to charge what they want for the purchase of their apps or in-app purchases. Both Google and Apple currently charge a 30% fee. If passed, the law will apply only to app makers and users living in Arizona.
What happened today, though, is just the first hurdle. The Arizona Senate will have to approve it, and after that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will still have the option to veto the bill. Google and Apple may also mount legal objections if it’s passed.
If the bill passes those hurdles, it will no doubt make some of the biggest developers in the world happy. For a while now, developers such as Fortnite creator Epic Games Ltd. have been in a tangle with Apple, claiming that the company has a monopoly. Spotify AG and Tinder-owner Match Group Inc. have also lambasted Apple for its alleged App Store monopoly.
It was the Arizona Democrats who mainly were against the legislation. “We don’t have a dog in this fight, what we need to do is be focused on policies that are protecting consumers,” Democratic Arizona State Rep. Diego Rodriguez said, according to a report by CNBC. “This bill does not protect consumers, it protects a $1 billion company from another billion-dollar company.”
Apple not surprisingly opposed the bill. The company’s chief compliance officer, Kyle Andeer, said in his testimony that the law would “allow billion-dollar developers to take all of the App Store’s value for free, even if they’re selling digital goods, even if they’re making millions or even billions of dollars doing it.” He added that “the bill is a government mandate that Apple give away the App Store.”
Google has yet to comment on the issue, although Android users, unlike iOS users, can use other app stores on their devices.
Photo: Thomas Ulrich/Pixabay
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