Epic Games lobbyists have drafted legislation that will be heard in North Dakota this week, trying to prevent app stores owned by Apple and Google from reducing app sales, according to a report released by The New York Times.
Senate Bill 2333, introduced to the North Dakota Senate last week, seeks to prevent large digital store windows such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play from forcing developers to distribute apps exclusively through their store windows, or to use their payment systems exclusively. It would also appear that the companies behind these store windows are punishing developers who choose other distribution or payment methods. Epic is currently embroiled in a legal battle over this issue and is taking both Apple and Google to court after both store windows were banned Fortnite when Epic introduced its own payment method last August in protest of the sales of the App Store by 30%. The Times writes that the debate on the North Dakota bill began Monday and will be voted on this week.
The Times reports that North Dakota Senator Kyle Davison “gave the draft legislation to Lacee Bjork Anderson, a lobbyist at Odney Public Affairs in Bismarck. Ms Anderson said in an interview that she was hired by Epic Games, the maker of the popular game Fortnite. Anderson said: “She is also paid by the Coalition for app equity, ”A non-profit that includes Epic Games, along with other companies like Spotify, and it search “Fair treatment by these app stores and the platform owners who operate it.”
Epic hires its first lobbyists late januarywhich uses people from both sides of the political path. While Epic may be self-serving behind the legislation, the U.S. government has investigated it major technological monopolies for a while. The Times reports that several states are investigating bills similar to those of North Dakota, or other measures that limit the power of these companies. While the bill, if passed, would only apply to businesses operating in North Dakota, and only to those generating more than $ 10 million in revenue, it could change the way Apple and its kind of business do. The Times writes that Apple has pushed back the legislation, and “Apple’s chief privacy engineer, Erik Neuenschwander, testified that the bill ‘threatens to destroy iPhone as you know it’.”
People with whom the Times has been spoken, is uncertain whether the bill will pass.
Even if you do not want to hand it over to Epic – and this is definitely the company makes it difficult to—The expenses the Fortnite case increases go beyond whether you can play a cartoon Battle Royale on your phone. (If you lost track: no, you still can’t do that.) The case, which is currently set to go on trial in May, could benefit smaller developers and be a blow to Apple’s dominance over mobile applications if it the favor of Epic goes. The North Dakota legislation could be another tool in Epic’s toolkit, and another example of the business that has its desire to put its pockets in a moral crusade. Either way, it’s about more than just Fortnite.