Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Antitrust Bill Targeting Big Tech

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to advance the Open App Markets Act, an antitrust bill that targets big tech. Bill S.2710 addresses Apple and Google in particular, who oversee the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, which together mediate access to the vast majority of apps used by smartphone users. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Amy Klobuchar, and Marsha Blackburn. The committee voted 20-2 to advance the legislation, with Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tyllis being the only dissenting votes within the Judiciary Committee. The new legislation is an attempt to curtail the power of the two major app store providers, who have a long history of using their domination of the market to exert power over information, content, and capital on the internet. Apple temporarily banned both Tumblr and Telegram in 2018, claiming that they did so because of the availability …  » Read full article