The Developers Alliance submission highlights the dynamic and competitive history of digital markets since the inquiry’s inception.
Canberra, April 14th, 2022 – The Developers Alliance has announced that it submitted its response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) Digital Platform Services Inquiry Interim Report no. 5.
The ACCC is considering whether there is a need for a new regulatory framework to address the competition and consumer concerns identified in digital platform services markets. This report is the fifth interim report for the Digital Platform Services Inquiry and marks the midpoint of the Inquiry, which began in 2020.
In their submission, the developer advocate highlights that the narrative that software developers are victims of a system that extorts their efforts is false.
Additionally, the group notes that even over the short life of the inquiry, the Digital Platform Services industry has demonstrated itself to be dynamic and competitive, that rigid regulation is counter-productive, that the industry is global and interconnected and undergoing a regulatory change in multiple markets simultaneously resulting in overlapping mandates.
“The ACCC must be open to reinterpreting past findings where the facts have changed over time,” stated Bruce Gustafson, Developers Alliance President, and CEO. “While the developer community would welcome internationally harmonized rules around platform transparency, content regulation, and privacy, the ongoing political focus on platform companies is unhelpful.”
The submission builds upon two past Alliance filings in the inquiry in 2020 and 2021.
The submission can be read here.
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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.
Dakota Graves
Communications Manager