U.S. Government Calls for Comment on Web-Apps and Sideloading
03 MAY 2022 - Apple’s lobbying spend hit a new quarterly record in the first quarter of this year. That’s according to a Bloomberg report, highlighted a couple of weeks ago by The Mac Observer. Was the money worth it? Funny thing about lobbying, we don’t really know, do we? Spending may eventually influence people voting on legislation, even if it doesn’t affect folks writing the laws being voted on.
$2.5 million, by the way. Apple spent $2.5 million on lobbying efforts in the March-quarter. That’s nearly 35% more than the $1.86 million Apple spent in the December-quarter, but less than the nearly $3 million Google spent in the March-quarter.
I’m not being funny nor cynical nor sarcastic when I say I don’t know the technical difference between lobbying and bribery. I mean, I know that bribery is illegal. And I know that if you bribe someone, you expect to get a stated goal in return. With lobbying, it seems, you just get to spend money and hope for the best.
Okay, I might be being a tiny bit cynical. It’s just funny to me - darkly comedic - that even while Apple spends more money on lobbying efforts than it’s ever spent before, it keeps getting hit. According to a piece from MacRumors over the weekend, “The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has launched an investigation into competition in mobile app ecosystems. On behalf of the United States Department of Commerce,” the piece says:
…the NTIA is now requesting comments about competition in mobile app ecosystems. The investigation was triggered by an executive order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy from July last year, with the aim of making recommendations for improving competition, reducing barriers to entry, and maximizing user benefit.
MacRumors goes on to say:
The formal request for comment lists in detail how iOS is likely to come under scrutiny as part of the investigation, with questions related to benefits of developing a standalone app for a platform compared to cross-platform web apps, how web apps should operate on mobile platforms, the availability of other methods of app distribution, and app sideloading. Particular attention is given to iOS's “unique barriers” that prevent users and developers from taking advantage of web apps, apps from alternative app stores, or sideloaded apps.
The NTIA is accepting comments from now until 11:59 PM EDT on 23 May 2022. Wherever you land on the issue, I do hope that you will leave a comment. You know… unless you’re cool with lobbyists from Apple, Google, Epic, and Spotify deciding the future of the App Store for App Store users.
