I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7030 

To promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the app economy, 

increase choice, improve quality, and reduce costs for consumers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2022 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. BUCK, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. JONES, 

Mr. CARSON, and Mr. CAWTHORN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To promote competition and reduce gatekeeper power in the 

app economy, increase choice, improve quality, and reduce costs for consumers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open App Markets 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APP.—The term ‘‘app’’ means a software 

9 application or electronic service that may be run or 


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1 directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, 

2 or any other general purpose computing device. 

3 (2) APP STORE.—The term ‘‘app store’’ means 

4 a publicly available website, software application, or 

5 other electronic service that distributes apps from 

6 third-party developers to users of a computer, a mo7 bile device, or any other general purpose computing 

8 device. 

9 (3) COVERED COMPANY.—The term ‘‘covered 

10 company’’ means any person that owns or controls 

11 an app store for which users in the United States 

12 exceed 50,000,000. 

13 (4) DEVELOPER.—The term ‘‘developer’’ means 

14 a person that owns or controls an app or an app 

15 store. 

16 (5) IN-APP PAYMENT SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘in17 app payment system’’ means an application, service, 

18 or user interface to manage billing or process the 

19 payments from users of an app. 

20 (6) NONPUBLIC BUSINESS INFORMATION.—The 

21 term ‘‘nonpublic business information’’ means non22 public data that is— 

23 (A) derived from a developer or an app or 

24 app store owned or controlled by a developer, 


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1 including interactions between users and the 

2 app or app store of the developer; and 

3 (B) collected by a covered company in the 

4 course of operating an app store or providing 

5 an operating system. 

6 SEC. 3. PROTECTING A COMPETITIVE APP MARKET. 

7 (a) EXCLUSIVITY AND TYING.—A covered company 

8 shall not— 

9 (1) require developers to use or enable an in10 app payment system owned or controlled by the cov11 ered company or any of its business partners as a 

12 condition of the distribution of an app on an app 

13 store or accessible on an operating system; 

14 (2) require as a term of distribution on an app 

15 store that pricing terms or conditions of sale be 

16 equal to or more favorable on its app store than the 

17 terms or conditions under another app store; or 

18 (3) take punitive action or otherwise impose 

19 less favorable terms and conditions against a devel20 oper for using or offering different pricing terms or 

21 conditions of sale through another in-app payment 

22 system or on another app store. 

23 (b) INTERFERENCE WITH LEGITIMATE BUSINESS

24 COMMUNICATIONS.—A covered company shall not impose 

25 restrictions on communications of developers with the 


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1 users of an app of the developer through the app or direct 

2 outreach to a user concerning legitimate business offers, 

3 such as pricing terms and product or service offerings. 

4 Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a covered com5 pany from providing a user the option to offer consent 

6 prior to the collection and sharing of the data of the user 

7 by an app. 

8 (c) NONPUBLIC BUSINESS INFORMATION.—A cov9 ered company shall not use nonpublic business information 

10 derived from a third-party app for the purpose of com11 peting with that app. 

12 (d) INTEROPERABILITY.—A covered company that 

13 controls the operating system or operating system configu14 ration on which its app store operates shall allow and pro15 vide readily accessible means for users of that operating 

16 system to— 

17 (1) choose third-party apps or app stores as de18 faults for categories appropriate to the app or app 

19 store; 

20 (2) install third-party apps or app stores 

21 through means other than its app store; and 

22 (3) hide or delete apps or app stores provided 

23 or preinstalled by the app store owner or any of its 

24 business partners. 

25 (e) SELF-PREFERENCING IN SEARCH.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered company shall not 

2 provide unequal treatment of apps in an app store 

3 through unreasonably preferencing or ranking the 

4 apps of the covered company or any of its business 

5 partners over those of other apps in organic search 

6 results. 

7 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—Unreasonably 

8 preferencing— 

9 (A) includes applying ranking schemes or 

10 algorithms that prioritize apps based on a cri11 terion of ownership interest by the covered com12 pany or its business partners; and 

13 (B) does not include clearly disclosed ad14 vertising. 

15 (f) OPEN APP DEVELOPMENT.—A covered company 

16 shall provide access to operating system interfaces, devel17 opment information, and hardware and software features 

18 to developers on a timely basis and on terms that are 

19 equivalent or functionally equivalent to the terms for ac20 cess by similar apps or functions provided by the covered 

21 company or to its business partners. 

22 SEC. 4. PROTECTING THE SECURITY AND PRIVACY OF 

23 USERS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) NO VIOLATION.—Subject to section (b), a 

2 covered company shall not be in violation of section 

3 3 for an action that is— 

4 (A) necessary to achieve user privacy, secu5 rity, or digital safety; 

6 (B) taken to prevent spam or fraud; 

7 (C) necessary to prevent unlawful infringe8 ment of preexisting intellectual property; or 

9 (D) taken to prevent a violation of, or 

10 comply with, Federal or State law. 

11 (2) PRIVACY AND SECURITY PROTECTIONS.—In 

12 paragraph (1), the term ‘‘necessary to achieve user 

13 privacy, security, or digital safety’’ includes— 

14 (A) allowing an end user to opt in, and 

15 providing information regarding the reasonable 

16 risks, prior to enabling installation of the third17 party apps or app stores; 

18 (B) removing malicious or fraudulent apps 

19 or app stores from an end user device; 

20 (C) providing an end user with the tech21 nical means to verify the authenticity and origin 

22 of third-party apps or app stores; and 

23 (D) providing an end user with option to 

24 limit the collection sharing of the data of the 

25 user with third-party apps or app stores. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (a) shall only apply 

2 if the covered company establishes by a preponderance of 

3 the evidence that the action described in that subsection 

4 is— 

5 (1) applied on a demonstrably consistent basis 

6 to— 

7 (A) apps of the covered company or its 

8 business partners; and 

9 (B) other apps; 

10 (2) not used as a pretext to exclude, or impose 

11 unnecessary or discriminatory terms on, third-party 

12 apps, in-app payment systems, or app stores; and 

13 (3) narrowly tailored and could not be achieved 

14 through a less discriminatory and technically pos15 sible means. 

16 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

17 (a) ENFORCEMENT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade Commis19 sion, the Attorney General, and any attorney general 

20 of a State subject to the requirements in paragraph 

21 (3) shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by 

22 the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

23 powers, and duties as though all applicable terms 

24 and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

25 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 


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1 1 et seq.), the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12 et seq.), 

2 and Antitrust Civil Process Act (15 U.S.C. 1311 et 

3 seq.), as appropriate, were incorporated into and 

4 made a part of this Act. 

5 (2) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION INDE6 PENDENT LITIGATION AUTHORITY.—If the Federal 

7 Trade Commission has reason to believe that a cov8 ered company violated this Act, the Federal Trade 

9 Commission may commence a civil action, in its own 

10 name by any of its attorneys designated by it for 

11 such purpose, to recover a civil penalty and seek 

12 other appropriate relief in a district court of the 

13 United States against the covered company. 

14 (3) PARENS PATRIAE.—Any attorney general of 

15 a State may bring a civil action in the name of such 

16 State for a violation of this Act as parens patriae on 

17 behalf of natural persons residing in such State, in 

18 any district court of the United States having juris19 diction of the defendant, and may secure any form 

20 of relief provided for in this section. 

21 (b) SUITS BY DEVELOPERS INJURED.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (3), any developer injured by reason of any24 thing forbidden in this Act may sue therefor in any 

25 district court of the United States in the district in 


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1 which the defendant resides or is found or has an 

2 agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, 

3 and shall recover threefold the damages by the devel4 oper sustained and the cost of suit, including a rea5 sonable attorney’s fee. The court may award under 

6 this paragraph, pursuant to a motion by such devel7 oper promptly made, simple interest on actual dam8 ages for the period beginning on the date of service 

9 of the pleading of the developer setting forth a claim 

10 under this Act and ending on the date of judgment, 

11 or for any shorter period therein, if the court finds 

12 that the award of such interest for such period is 

13 just in the circumstances. In determining whether 

14 an award of interest under this paragraph for any 

15 period is just in the circumstances, the court shall 

16 consider only— 

17 (A) whether the developer or the opposing 

18 party, or either party’s representative, made 

19 motions or asserted claims or defenses so lack20 ing in merit as to show that such party or rep21 resentative acted intentionally for delay or oth22 erwise acted in bad faith; 

23 (B) whether, in the course of the action in24 volved, the developer or the opposing party, or 

25 either party’s representative, violated any appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:37 Mar 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7030.IH H7030

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1 cable rule, statute, or court order providing for 

2 sanctions for dilatory behavior or otherwise pro3 viding for expeditious proceedings; and 

4 (C) whether the developer or the opposing 

5 party, or either party’s representative, engaged 

6 in conduct primarily for the purpose of delaying 

7 the litigation or increasing the cost thereof. 

8 (2) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—Except as provided 

9 in paragraph (3), any developer shall be entitled to 

10 sue for and have injunctive relief, in any court of the 

11 United States having jurisdiction over the parties, 

12 against threatened loss or damage by a violation of 

13 this Act, when and under the same conditions and 

14 principles as injunctive relief against threatened con15 duct that will cause loss or damage is granted by 

16 courts of equity, under the rules governing such pro17 ceedings, and upon the execution of proper bond 

18 against damages for an injunction improvidently 

19 granted and a showing that the danger of irrep20 arable loss or damage is immediate, a preliminary 

21 injunction may issue. In any action under this para22 graph in which the plaintiff substantially prevails, 

23 the court shall award the cost of suit, including a 

24 reasonable attorney’s fee, to such plaintiff. 


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1 (3) FOREIGN STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES.—A 

2 developer of an app that is owned by, or under the 

3 control of, a foreign state may not bring an action 

4 under this subsection. 

5 SEC. 6. REPORTING. 

6 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission, the Comp8 troller General of the United States, and the Antitrust Di9 vision of the Department of Justice shall each separately 

10 review and provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of 

11 this Act on competition, innovation, barriers to entry, and 

12 concentrations of market power or market share after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this Act may be construed— 

16 (1) to limit— 

17 (A) any authority of the Attorney General 

18 or the Federal Trade Commission under the 

19 antitrust laws (as defined in the first section of 

20 the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12), the Federal 

21 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), 

22 or any other provision of law; or 

23 (B) the application of any law; 

24 (2) to require— 


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1 (A) a covered company to provide service 

2 under a hardware or software warranty for 

3 damage caused by third-party apps or app 

4 stores installed through means other than the 

5 app store of the covered company; or 

6 (B) customer service for the installation or 

7 operation of third-party apps or app stores de8 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

9 (3) to prevent an action taken by a covered 

10 company that is reasonably tailored to protect the 

11 rights of third parties under section 106, 1101, 

12 1201, or 1401 of title 17, United States Code, or 

13 rights actionable under sections 32 or 43 of the Act 

14 entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the registration and 

15 protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry 

16 out the provisions of certain international conven17 tions, and for other purposes’’, approved July 5, 

18 1946 (commonly known as the ‘‘Lanham Act’’ or the 

19 ‘‘Trademark Act of 1946’’) (15 U.S.C. 1114, 1125), 

20 or corollary State law; 

21 (4) to require a covered company to license any 

22 intellectual property, including any trade secrets, 

23 owned by or licensed to the covered company; 

24 (5) to prevent a covered company from assert25 ing preexisting rights of the covered company under 


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1 intellectual property law to prevent the unlawful use 

2 of any intellectual property owned by or duly li3 censed to the covered company; or 

4 (6) to require a covered company to inter5 operate or share data with persons or business users 

6 that— 

7 (A) are on any list maintained by the Fed8 eral Government by which entities are identified 

9 as limited or prohibited from engaging in eco10 nomic transactions as part of United States 

11 sanctions or export control regimes; or 

12 (B) have been identified by the Federal 

13 Government as national security, intelligence, or 

14 law enforcement risks. 

15 SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 

16 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

17 a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

18 unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this Act, and 

19 the application of such provisions to any person or cir20 cumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

21 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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