Death by a Thousand Cuts: State Privacy, Digital Ad Taxes, Limits on Acquisitions, and Other Growth Killers
Reasonable tax rates, access to data, and the ability to raise capital are all necessary conditions for the creation and growth of small companies in the app economy. These companies, in turn, provide both the foundations for and novel adaptations of the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tools of the future. What policymakers should know is how the costs of their proposals add up for small companies, increasing barriers to entry and siphoning resources away from product development and toward compliance. Emblematic [...]
Statement from ACT President Morgan Reed on Expanding Partnerships for Innovation and Competitiveness Act
WASHINGTON – ACT | The App Association today released the following statement from President Morgan Reed after Rep. Haley Stevens released the draft Expanding Partnerships for Innovation and Competitiveness Act. “As small businesses in the app economy, ACT | The App Association’s members have a comparative advantage in agility over their larger counterparts. They are leading the way in developing, adapting, and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) tools across virtually all industries. Robust standards create a stable foundation that enables small [...]
CEN/CENLEC 95000: A Guide to Developing an Equitable Standard-Essential Patent Landscape
Decades of standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing abuse led a cross-section of technology standards participants and their representatives, including the ACT | The App Association, to draft the CEN/CENLEC 95000 Workshop Agreement: Core Principles and Approaches for Licensing of Standard Essential Patents (CWA 95000). This detailed guide is a foundational document for policymakers to establish a healthy SEP licensing ecosystem at the outset or ameliorate the stifling of their standardized innovation landscape. The Purpose: Technology Standards Technology standards provide an alternative [...]
Regulatory Roadmap: Understanding the DMA and DMCCA for SMEs
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it’s increasingly vital for app developers and tech companies to stay ahead of regulatory changes. The recent approval of the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumer Act (DMCCA) by the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament just before heading into national elections underscores the urgency and significance of this legislation. Similarly, the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) has already taken effect and is now in its enforcement phase. Both the DMA and the DMCCA are [...]
Shine Some Sunlight on Your Terms of Service
For many, this time of year ushers in the era where we all seem to find ourselves decluttering our homes, scrubbing baseboards, or changing the batteries on our smoke detectors! This year, as a part of your annual refresh, it’s an opportune time for app and software companies to dust off and revisit their Terms of Service (TOS). In the rapidly evolving technology landscape, a TOS written just a few years ago could be alarmingly out of date. Just as [...]
Decoding SEP Licensing: IoT and the Future of Sustainable Technology
Imagine a world that is not only smarter but greener—where rural and urban landscapes alike are seamlessly integrated with technology to optimise energy consumption, reduce carbon footprints, and enhance residents' quality of life. This vision of a green, tech-driven smart world is becoming a reality through the convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainable technology. A critical aspect of this transformation is technology standardisation and the licensing framework for the standard-essential patents (SEPs) that cover them. Understanding and [...]