Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., considers Apple’s proposed $100 million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Oakland involving small U.S. iOS app developers a “significant step forward, but does not rectify the full and vivid range of market abuses and practices still widespread across app markets.” The plaintiffs claimed Apple monopolized U.S. distribution services for iOS apps and in-app purchases that resulted in commission overcharges to app developers. The proposed settlement in case 4:19-cv-03074-YGR would use the $100 million to set up a Small Developer Assistance Fund, for developers whose annual proceeds totaled less than $1 million between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021, Hagens Berman, one of the firms representing plaintiffs, said. Developers can claim up to $30,000 from the fund. Apple also agreed to change its app store rules to allow developers to communicate with customers outside their apps about purchasing and pricing alternatives to Apple’s in-app purchase system, Hagens Berman said. A website to administer the $100 million won’t go live until the Oakland court approves the settlement. “Today’s move only adds to the momentum” for passing the Open App Markets Act (HR-5017/S-2710) “and further exposes rampant anticompetitive abuses in the app markets,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The fox guarding the hen house status quo will remain until there are clear and enforceable rules for Apple and Google to play by.” Cowen’s Paul Gallant believes the settlement “won't derail the bipartisan interest in opening up app stores to different payment mechanisms.” He cited the Coalition for App Fairness’ criticisms of the proposal.
Education and Libraries Networks Coalition members believe it’s “imperative” that Congress include the Securing Universal Communications Connectivity to Ensure Students Succeed (Success) Act (HR-4663/S-2447) in a coming budget reconciliation package that Democrats aim to pass with only their caucus’ support. HR-4663/S-2447 would provide $40 billion total for a successor to the current COVID-19 $7.17 billion emergency connectivity fund for FY 2022-26 to continue providing hot spots, modems, routers and internet-enabled devices post-pandemic (see 2107220049). The FCC’s Wednesday announcement that it received more than $5.1 billion in funding requests during ECF’s first application window is “compelling evidence that more support is needed,” EdLiNC said. “We fully expect that the remaining $2 billion in ECF support will be spoken for during the forthcoming” Sept. 28-Oct.13 second application window. Enacting HR-4663/S-2447 via the reconciliation package will “replenish ECF funding and ensure that America’s students, educators, and library patrons are not disconnected when” the existing ECF money “runs dry,” the group said.
The House Armed Services Committee Cyber Subcommittee’s proposed language for the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, released Wednesday, aims to improve DOD implementation of its October 2020 spectrum strategy and the department’s adjustment of its systems before the FCC’s planned auction of spectrum on the 3.45-3.55 GHz band. It doesn’t mention panel members’ ongoing misgivings with Ligado’s planned L-band operations. Some lobbyists believe full committee leaders may attempt to attach the anti-Ligado Recognizing and Ensuring Taxpayer Access to Infrastructure Necessary (Retain) for GPS and Satellite Communications Act (HR-4634/S-2166) to the NDAA (see 2107230065). House Armed Services’ full committee NDAA markup is set for Sept. 1. Cyber’s NDAA language would require DOD to make a single “senior official” responsible for implementing the department’s October 2020 spectrum strategy and future iterations. DOD proposed using “dynamic and bidirectional sharing for facilitating access to commercial spectrum” (see 2010290061). The subcommittee proposes the designated senior official and other DOD agencies brief House Armed Services on how the department’s plan for aligning adjustments to systems affected by the 3.45 GHz auction will align with the October spectrum strategy. The subpanel wants DOD to submit a report to congressional defense committees examining the effectiveness of DOD spectrum operations. House Armed Services’ Strategic Forces Subcommittee proposes directing the Air Force and other space-focused DOD officials to brief the committee by the end of 2021 on plans for deploying an “alternate” GPS positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) constellation. The Air Force “must prioritize GPS resiliency by ensuring” DOD “has an alternate PNT capability available should GPS be denied,” Strategic Forces said in its bill report. House Infrastructure Committee members invoked the need for a GPS timing signals backup during a March hearing with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (see 2103250071).
The FCC is addressing questions raised last month in a letter from Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and other Democrats on Verizon’s proposed buy of Tracfone (see 2107210054), acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded, in letters posted Thursday. “Our public interest analysis takes several factors into account, including issues raised in your letter like the impact on consumers and competition,” Rosenworcel said. “We determine if we can appropriately remedy any harms that may arise from the transaction, and also review any benefits that the transaction may confer for consumers and the communications marketplace.” She said she couldn’t comment on the merits of the proceeding.
Amazon’s palm-print recognition and payment system, Amazon One, could be used to “further cement” the company’s “competitive power and suppress competition across various markets,” wrote Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., to the company Friday. They noted reports about Amazon “offering credits to consumers to share their biometric data with Amazon One.” Expansion of biometric data “raises serious questions about Amazon’s plans for this data and its respect for user privacy, including about how Amazon may use the data for advertising and tracking purposes,” the senators wrote. The company didn’t comment.
A bipartisan House duo introduced companion legislation Friday meant to increase competition with Google and Apple app stores (see 2108110055). Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., and House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson, D-Ga., introduced the Open App Markets Act. It would “level the playing field for small app developers, strengthen consumer choice within the app marketplace, and ensure that antitrust laws are working properly in the digital ecosystem,” Johnson and Buck said in their announcement.
Fifty U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and territorial broadcaster associations wrote congressional leaders Thursday urging them to “swiftly” pass the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act (HR-4871) and Broadcast Varied Ownership Incentives for Community Expanded Service Act (S-2456). The measures, filed last month as expected (see 2104150057), would bring back the minority broadcaster tax certificate program. NAB supports the bills. The House Commerce Committee advanced the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act in the last Congress, but the full chamber didn’t pass it (see 2009090068). “Broadcasters provide an invaluable resource to all communities” and “our strength is in our ability to cover diverse community experiences and tell stories from an authentic perspective,” the state broadcasters said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the chambers’ GOP leaders. “The tax certificate program will help us build a local media landscape that reflects our communities on the air, both in the control booth and boardroom.” The bills will also “help with building a pipeline for a new generation of broadcast station owners that is inclusive of women, people of color and other underrepresented individuals,” the broadcasters said.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security “continues to work with our interagency partners to apply consistently the licensing policies” included in a final rule “to restrict Huawei’s access to technology or software for activities that could harm U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” a spokesperson emailed Thursday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed BIS Wednesday for details on its implementation of revised restrictions because he said he's aware of evidence of noncompliance (see 2108110066). “In addition to other EAR [Export Administration Regulations] license requirements that may apply to Huawei,” an August final direct product rule bars the company “and its affiliates” from “sourcing certain foreign-produced items from outside” the U.S. “without a license from BIS,” the spokesperson said. The agency “aggressively enforces” its rules “and takes allegations of potential export control violations seriously. All sources of information are leveraged to identify, investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute violations. Huawei reported a revenue decrease of almost 30% for the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of 2020.”
Legislation introduced Wednesday is meant to increase competition with Google and Apple app stores. Introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the Open App Markets Act will “open the app economy to new competitors, and give mobile users more control over their own devices,” said Blumenthal. The bill would protect “developers’ rights to tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing,” plus app sideloading options for consumers. It would “prevent app stores from disadvantaging developers” and “set safeguards to continue to protect privacy, security, and safety of consumers,” said the announcement. The bill addresses competition harms and “ensures fairness to users and developers without forcing compromises on security or privacy,” wrote Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer. PK noted the legislation is in line with recommendations from its recent white paper.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security Wednesday for details on its implementation of a final rule that adds Huawei non-U.S. affiliates to the bureau’s entity list, replaces a general license with a more restrictive authorization and expands the scope of its foreign direct product rule constricting the company’s ability to procure items that are the direct product of U.S. tech. “My staff has reviewed evidence suggesting possible non-compliance with” the final Huawei rule, Wicker wrote acting Undersecretary-Industry and Security Jeremy Pelter. Wicker said BIS officials claimed they couldn’t disclose information Wicker’s office sought on the implementation process because it’s covered under the 2018 Export Control Reform Act. That information “neither focused on any particular company’s compliance nor could have resulted in a breach of confidentiality for a company under investigation,” Wicker said. He sought information by Aug. 16 on how many companies have “sought a license to ship to Huawei or its affiliates,” how many of those applications BIS has processed and how many it has denied. BIS didn’t comment.