H.R. 3209

119 HR 3209 IH: App Store Freedom Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-05-06
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 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 3209  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   May 6, 2025   Mrs. Cammack  introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Energy and Commerce    A BILL
To prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the app marketplace, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   App Store Freedom Act  .
2.
Protecting a competitive app market
(a)
Requirements
(1)
Interoperability
A covered company that owns or controls the operating system on which an app store owned or controlled by the covered company operates shall allow and provide readily accessible means for a user of such operating system to—
(A)
choose a third-party app or app store as a default;
(B)
install a third-party app or app store through means other than the app store owned or controlled by the covered company; and
(C)
hide or delete an app or app store provided or pre-installed by the covered company (or any business partner of the covered company).
(2)
Open app development
A covered company, in a timely manner, without cost, and on terms that are equivalent to the terms of access by the covered company or any business partner of the covered company, shall provide to a developer of an app accessible on an operating system, or distributed through an app store, owned or controlled by the covered company—
(A)
access to any interface and hardware and software feature of the operating system that are generally available to the covered company and any business partner of the covered company; and
(B)
documentation and development information sufficient to access any such interface and feature.
(3)
Compliance
A covered company shall be in compliance with the requirements described under paragraph (2) if that company—
(A)
licenses any intellectual property that the developer of an app needs to access any interface or hardware or software feature of such operating system; or
(B)
limits the interfaces and hardware and software features of the operating system generally available to the covered company and any businesses partner of the company to interfaces and hardware and software features that do not implicate such intellectual property rights.
(b)
Prohibitions
(1)
Exclusivity and tying
A covered company may not—
(A)
require, as a condition for an app to be accessible on an operating system or distributed through an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company, that—
(i)
a developer of the app use or enable an in-app payment system owned or controlled by the covered company or any business partner of the covered company; or
(ii)
pricing or other terms of sale be equal to or more favorable on such operating system or app store than on another operating system or app store; or
(B)
take punitive action or otherwise impose less favorable terms and conditions against a developer of an app distributed outside of an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company—
(i)
for using or offering different pricing or other terms of sale on an app store or through an in-app payment system that is not owned or controlled by the covered company; or
(ii)
on the basis that such app provides access to a third-party app that is not owned or controlled by the covered company through remote electronic services rather than through download from an operating system or an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company.
(2)
Interference with legitimate business communications
(A)
In general
A covered company may not impose any restriction or fee on the communication of a developer of an app accessible on an operating system or distributed through an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company with a user of the app, whether through such app or direct outreach to such user, concerning legitimate business offers, including pricing or other terms of sale and product or service offerings.
(B)
Rule of construction
Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prohibit a covered company from requiring that consent of a user be obtained prior to collecting and sharing data of the user through an app accessible on an operating system or distributed through an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company if the apps and services of the company are subject to the same consent.
(3)
Nonpublic business information
A covered company may not use nonpublic business information derived from an app accessible on an operating system or distributed through an app store that is owned or controlled by the covered company for the purpose of competing with such app.
3.
Enforcement
(a)
Enforcement by Federal trade commission
(1)
Unfair or deceptive acts or practices
A violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B) ) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
(2)
Powers of commission
Except as provided in paragraph (3)—
(A)
the Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq. ) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act; and
(B)
any covered company who violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
(3)
Penalties
(A)
Additional civil penalty
In addition to any penalty applicable under the Federal Trade Commission Act, any covered company who violates this Act shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $1,000,000 for each violation.
(B)
Method
Any civil penalty described in subparagraph (A) shall be obtained in the same manner as a civil penalty for a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B) ).
(4)
Authority preserved
Nothing in this section may be construed to limit the authority of the Commission under any other provision of law.
(b)
Enforcement by states
(1)
In general
If the attorney general of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of the State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or practice that violates this Act, the State may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate district court of the United States to obtain appropriate relief.
(2)
Rights of commission
(A)
Notice to commission
(i)
In general
Except as provided in clause (iii), an attorney general, official, or agency of a State, before filing a civil action under paragraph (1), shall provide written notification to the Commission that the attorney general, official, or agency intends to bring such civil action.
(ii)
Contents
The notification required under clause (i) shall include a copy of the complaint for the civil action.
(iii)
Exception
If it is not feasible for an attorney general, official, or agency of a State to provide the notification required under clause (i) before filing a civil action under paragraph (1), the attorney general, official, or agency shall provide the notification to the Commission immediately upon the filing of the civil action.
(B)
Intervention by commission
The Commission may—
(i)
intervene in any civil action filed by an attorney general, official, or agency of a State under paragraph (1); and
(ii)
upon so intervening—
(I)
be heard on all matters arising in the civil action; and
(II)
appeal a decision in the civil action.
(C)
Limitation on state action while Federal action is pending
If the Commission or the Attorney General of the United States has instituted a civil action for violation of this Act (referred to in this subparagraph as the  Federal action ), no State attorney general, official, or agency may bring an action under paragraph (1) during the pendency of the Federal action against any defendant named in the complaint in the Federal action for any violation of such Act alleged in such complaint.
(3)
Rule of construction
For purposes of bringing a civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this Act may be construed to prevent an attorney general, official, or agency of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general, official, or agency by the laws of the State to conduct investigations, administer oaths or affirmations, or compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documentary or other evidence.
4.
Effect on State law
(a)
In general
A State, or political subdivision of a State, may not maintain, enforce, prescribe, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law of the State, or political subdivision of the State, that—
(1)
prohibits a covered company from engaging in any conduct prohibited by section 2; or
(2)
requires a covered company to take any action required by section 2.
(b)
Rule of construction
This section may not be construed to—
(1)
preempt any law of a State or political subdivision of a State relating to contracts, torts, or unfair competition; or
(2)
preempt any law of a State or political subdivision of a State to the extent that such law relates to an act of fraud, unauthorized access to personal information, or notification of unauthorized access to personal information.
5.
Rules of construction
Nothing in this Act may be construed—
(1)
to limit—
(A)
any authority of the Federal Trade Commission under the Federal Trade Commission Act ( 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq. ), or any other provision of law; or
(B)
the application of any Federal law;
(2)
to require a covered company—
(A)
to provide service under a hardware or software warranty for damage caused by a third-party app or app store installed through means other than an app store owned or controlled by the covered company; or
(B)
to provide customer service for the installation or operation of such a third-party app or app store;
(3)
to prevent an action taken by a covered company that is reasonably tailored to protect the rights of a person under section 106, 1101, 1201, or 1401 of title 17, United States Code, or rights actionable under sections 32 or 43 of the Act entitled  An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes , approved July 5, 1946 (commonly known as the  Lanham Act  or the  Trademark Act of 1946 ) ( 15 U.S.C. 1114 , 1125), or corollary State law;
(4)
to require a covered company to license any intellectual property, including any trade secrets, owned by or licensed to the covered company;
(5)
to prevent a covered company from asserting rights of the covered company under intellectual property law to prevent the unlawful use of any intellectual property owned by or duly licensed to the covered company;
(6)
to require a covered company to work with or share data with any person who—
(A)
is on any list maintained by the Federal Government by which entities are identified as limited or prohibited from engaging in economic transactions as part of United States sanctions or export control regimes;
(B)
is a foreign entity that has been identified by the Federal Government as a national security, intelligence, or law enforcement risk, including the Government of the People’s Republic of China or the government of a foreign adversary (as defined in section 8(c)(2) of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 ( 473 U.S.C. 1607(c)(2) )); or
(C)
is a foreign adversary controlled application (as defined in section 2(g)(3) of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act ( Public Law 118–50 ;  15 U.S.C. 9901  note)); or
(7)
to limit any Federal or State law relating to antitrust.
6.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
App
The term  app  means a software application or electronic service that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose consumer computing device.
(2)
App store
The term  app store  means a publicly available website, software application, or other electronic service that may distribute apps from third-party developers to users of a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose consumer computing device.
(3)
Commission
The term  Commission  means the Federal Trade Commission.
(4)
Covered company
The term  covered company  means any person who owns or controls—
(A)
an app store for which the number of users in the United States exceeds 100,000,000; and
(B)
the operating system on which such app store operates.
(5)
Developer
The term  developer  means a person who owns or controls an app or an app store.
(6)
In-app payment system
The term  in-app payment system  means an application, service, or user interface to manage billing or process a payment from a user of an app.
(7)
Nonpublic business information
The term  nonpublic business information  means nonpublic data that is—
(A)
derived from a developer or an app or app store owned or controlled by a developer, including an interaction between a user and the app or app store of the developer; and
(B)
collected by a covered company in the course of operating an app store or providing an operating system.
(8)
Operating system
The term  operating system  includes an operating system configuration.
7.
Guidance; effective date
(a)
FTC guidance
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall issue guidance to assist covered companies in complying with this Act.
(b)
Effective date
This Act shall take effect on the date on which the Commission issues guidance under subsection (a).