Ahead of Thursday’s Scheduled Markup of the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024, ACT | The App Association Calls for Increased Protections for Small Businesses
On Thursday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce is scheduled to markup three bills, including the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 authored by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). In response to this development, Morgan Reed, President of ACT | The App Association, released the following statement: “Last week, more than 50 entrepreneurs from 30 states, all members of the App Association, sat down with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to push for [...]
Decoding SEP Licensing: A Comprehensive Guide for the IoT and AI Revolutions
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and policymakers alike often find the standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing landscape to be a difficult, dense, and confusing topic to understand. However, as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystems continue to develop a new set of standards to build on, it is crucial that stakeholders in the public and private sectors increase their understanding of SEP licensing issues. Below is a breakdown of some important SEP licensing concepts and a glossary [...]
The Four Ps of Privacy: Small Businesses’ Unified Call for a Thoughtful Federal Privacy Bill
In the absence of a national privacy law, disparate and misaligned approaches to protecting individuals' privacy continue to evolve and conflict with the most effective approaches to privacy and security that developers build. The latest privacy bill to gain momentum, the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (APRA), includes several familiar concepts, including consumer “rights,” a preemption provision, and a private right of action. As we evaluate the draft bill, we will be looking at it closely to determine how [...]
SME Developers Seek Clarification on DSA: A Call for Dialogue and Enhanced Protections
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) developers find themselves at a crucial juncture, navigating the complexities of the Digital Services Act (DSA). While the DSA aims to foster a safer and more reliable online environment, the MSME members of ACT | The App Association ask the European Commission (EC) for clearer guidelines and protections to ensure compliance does not inadvertently expose them to new risks. MSME perspective Our members, the driving force behind [...]
Statement from Morgan Reed on National Small Business Week
April 29, 2024 – Today, ACT | The App Association released a statement from President Morgan Reed celebrating Small Business Week: “This week, we celebrate National Small Business Week—an extraordinary opportunity to recognize the monumental contributions our small business members make to their communities and to the global app economy. America’s small businesses are the backbone of innovation, reshaping how we live, work, and engage with technology through secure, sophisticated, connected platforms. “In an era marked by rapid technological transformation, [...]
Epic Games’ Brilliant Plan for Google Play: Burn it Down
The conflicts that led to Epic Games spending so much of its time in courts around the world over the past few years are only partly related to its business model. The other main contributor is the style with which it pursues its goals. From the beginning, the gaming giant sought to bludgeon the major app stores into acquiescing to their demands, by blatantly flouting developer agreements and ultimately suing and pursuing legislation to reshape the stores to fit their [...]