An Arizona bill, HB2005, that could force Apple’s App Store and Google Play to allow third-party payment platforms for in-app purchases on the App Store has been introduced in Arizona and is slated for a vote in the state’s House of Representatives.
Mike Peterson for AppleInsider:
The piece of legislation is an amendment to Arizona House Bill 2005. Specifically, it “restricts the ability of certain digital application distribution platforms to require use of a specific in-application payment system.”
In that way, it’s similar to the bill introduced on February 10 in North Dakota, that ultimately failed. However, HB 2005 stops short at requiring tech companies from allowing outside app stores, and only applies to in-app payment systems… Like the North Dakota legislation, HB 2005 also features a specific carve-out for gaming consoles or music players, using very similar language to the North Dakota exception.
During an Arizona House Appropriations hearing Monday, Apple representatives touted the way the App Store democratized software by referring back to times when developers had to pay more to build and distribute apps.
MacDailyNews Take: In a just and sane world, Arizona’s App Store bull (typo and it’s staying) should suffer the same fate as North Dakota’s bill.
The amount by which Apple Inc. has driven down software prices across the board, on every major computing platform, makes legal actions such as this eminently laughable. — MacDailyNews, May 14, 2019
Republican social engineering, they are such hypocrites.
It’s as legitimate as Joe Biden’s presidential vote tally!
I’d like to place my payment system into Walmart’s stores.
Arizona, please make legislation to force them.
This bill is laughable in its pure unconstitutionality. Interstate commerce is clearly a reserved purview for the U.S. Congress.