The Developers Alliance finds that S. 2992 will cause irreparable damage to a functioning business marketplace that developers helped build.
Washington D.C., January 20th, 2022 – The Developers Alliance has released a statement addressing today’s markup of the US Senate Bill S.2992, whose purpose is… “to provide that certain discriminatory conduct by covered platforms shall be unlawful, and for other purposes.”
In October of 2021, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced the bill to help “restore competition online” by placing limits on how the largest app platforms function and holding them accountable for “illegal” behavior. Supporters of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act have stated that this bill is made to ensure that Big Tech receives more than just a slap on the wrist for its misdeeds. The Developers Alliance analysis of the bill reveals that it actually does little to promote innovation and choice, and instead threatens the app businesses that depend on the marketplace.
“Despite our outreach to Judiciary committee members, today’s markup did nothing to limit the chaos millions of app developers will soon face,” stated Bruce Gustafson, President and CEO of the Developers Alliance. “Digital ecosystems exist for a reason, and for developers they serve to marshal the many products, services, and partners that must come together for devs to get apps to market. We didn’t ask for government intervention, and cannot support any legislation that treats developers as collateral damage in a political battle between Congress and big tech.“
“Small developers who play by the rules benefit from a model that allows app stores to enforce rules against apps that are not following good practices,” added Sarah Richard. “If this bill is passed, developers may no longer receive the free or low-cost tools, services, and APIs that they are now utilizing to run their businesses. These reforms to the app marketplace erode consumer trust, which leads to fewer consumers buying apps, fewer developer jobs, and less overall investment into the developer economy.”
###
About The Developers Alliance
The Developers Alliance is the world’s leading advocate for software developers and the companies invested in their success. Alliance members include industry leaders in consumer, enterprise, industrial, and emerging software development, and a global network of more than 70,000 developers.
