Apple says proposed antitrust laws would force it to allow ‘sideloading’ on iPhones
Having to ‘sideload’ apps would pose a security risk to iPhone users, Apple warned as rivals and lawmakers pushed antitrust measures
Apple, opposing bipartisan antitrust legislations, argued Tuesday that two laws currently under consideration could enable malware attacks on iPhone users and would harm them.
“The bills put consumers in harm’s way because of the real risk of privacy and security breaches,” Apple’s senior director of government affairs Timothy Powderly wrote in the letter to the Senate Justice Committee, according to CNBC. Apple will have to make it possible “sideloading.”Powdered, “millions of Americans will likely suffer malware attacks on their phones that would otherwise have been stopped.”
Apple-approved applications can only be installed via App Store on iPhones or iPads. Apple has stated that the two bills under review in committee could be deemed illegal. “increase consumer welfare”Should be maintained.
American Innovation and Choice Online Act prohibits platforms from favoring products of their competitors over the ones they produce. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced it. Open App Markets Act, which focuses on app stores specifically, also seeks preventive action. “dominant”Platforms cannot give preference to products they own. Sponsors of the platform are Marsha Blackburn and Senator Richard Blumenthal, both from Connecticut.
Google’s Android mobile operating system already allows sideloading, though it warns users repeatedly of the risks of doing so.
Apple claims it has maintained full control over which software is allowed for users to download, and that this protects their privacy. Just last week, however, a fraud detector service flagged a vulnerability in Apple’s default web browser app, Safari, enabling malicious sites to access personal data.
Legislators and regulators have pointed out that Apple receives a 15%-30% cut on all transactions through iPhone apps. The Blumenthal-Blackburn bill would prohibit platforms from conditioning sales on developer’s use of the in-app payment system.
More than 30 companies wrote a support letter to Senator KlobucharGrassley on Tuesday. “gatekeeper status”These are the dominant platforms “prevents companies like us from competing on the merits.”Signatories included Basecamp, the app developer, search engines DuckDuckGo, Neeva and lyrics-centered media company Genius and Yelp.
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