St. Paul, MN - Yesterday, the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee heard testimony on HF 1184, authored by State Representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL - St. Cloud), which would break Big Tech’s app store monopolies to provide an even playing field for small app developers and entrepreneurs. The bill is similar to one co-sponsored at the federal level by Senator Amy Klobuchar.
“Apple and Google are abusing their status as the only gatekeepers to the mobile internet by forcing developers to use their app stores and charging them a 30% tax” said Rep. Wolgamott. “This legislation would break Apple and Google's app store monopolies to put small developers and entrepreneurs, along with consumers, on an even playing field."
The proposal prohibits companies that run app stores from requiring developers to use a specific app store, which limits their ability to accept payments from users without accepting the company’s fees. The proposal would also prohibit retaliation or punitive actions on the developer for choosing to use alternative app stores or payment systems. These prohibitions only apply to app stores with a cumulative gross receipt in excess of $10 million during the previous or current calendar year from sales made to Minnesotans.
The legislation was laid over for possible inclusion in a later bill or an additional hearing. More information from yesterday’s hearing can be found on the committee’s webpage, and a recording of the hearing is available on the House Public Information Youtube channel.