Taxpayer Watchdog Slams App Store Freedom Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Although the federal government is shut down, the App Store Freedom Act (H.R. 3209), introduced by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) in May, is gaining traction. The bill would require major app-store operators—those with over 100 million U.S. users—to allow users to set third-party apps or stores as defaults. Such proposals have been demonstrated to endanger users by undermining critical cybersecurity protections currently offered by app stores.

In response, David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, offered the following comment:

“This is just another episode in a never-ending saga of lawmakers forcing their way into organically developed markets to remedy nonexistent wrongs. Lawmakers are rushing to ‘fix’ what isn’t broken, manufacturing faux competition and inviting unintended consequences. If passed, this legislation will mean weakened cybersecurity and a flood of unvetted apps, which won’t benefit American consumers.

“Large operating systems differentiate themselves through cybersecurity and integrated design. Consumers have alternatives, yet they choose these platforms precisely because they value those protections. By any consumer-welfare standard, there’s no need for government intervention

“Forcing Apple and Google to open their ecosystems to unvetted third-party software will not promote a free and open market. Far from ‘promoting consumer choice,’ it would limit such choice by taking away the option to buy secure devices with trusted app stores. Not to mention, parents could soon face the headache of making sure their kids don’t download explicit or unsafe apps from shady unvetted app stores. One class of innovators we’re likely to see flourish will be ‘entrepreneurial’ malware developers, devising ways to trick unsuspecting users into installing their scam apps.

“U.S. lawmakers, gazing admiringly at Europe’s heavy-handed digital regulations, imagine they can ‘shield’ consumers too. But across the Atlantic, there are not better-protected users or more successful startups—only more red tape.

“Americans are tired of this uncalled-for regulation. Congress should stop trying to patch up markets that have no need of state intervention.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.