Introduction of DMA-Style Brazilian Online Platform Legislation Will Stifle Growth of Digital Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – ACT | The App Association is discouraged by today’s announcement from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of proposed legislation to regulate the digital economy, similar to the approach taken in the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA so far has produced no positive movement towards its stated goals of boosting competition and supporting startups and scaleups. Rather than pursue this, Brazil’s policymakers should learn the lesson from DMA and build a pro-innovation [...]
ACT | The App Association Brings Small Business Voice to High-Stakes Tech Regulation Debate
The recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and related regulations drew intense attention in Washington and beyond. Representing small app developers and connected device makers across the United States and Europe, ACT | The App Association’s president Morgan Reed underscored how Europe’s regulatory experiments threaten not just Big Tech, but the small innovators who have existing business relationships with them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2cHyn1bSUo Morgan made clear that Europe’s ex ante (regulate-before-harm) model, from the [...]
ACT | The App Association Raises Red Flags From Small Businesses on New Jersey’s Data Privacy Act Implementation
The legislation aims to provide New Jersey residents with ‘more control over their personal data’, but provisions contain unnecessarily far-reaching and unusually restrictive mandates on innovative small businesses in the Garden State. Washington, DC (9/11/25) - The App Association shared comments with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (NJDCA) highlighting concerns from member companies in the state regarding proposed rules to implement the recently passed New Jersey Data Privacy Act. In a letter to NJDCA Acting Director Cari [...]
ACT | The App Association Welcomes President Von der Leyen’s Focus on Startups and Scaleups
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – ACT | The App Association welcomes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s emphasis on startups and competitiveness in her 2025 State of the Union speech. Her recognition of the role of Europe’s innovators sends an important signal at a critical moment for the EU’s digital future. Startups and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Europe’s economy and the drivers of digital transformation. The App Association shares the Commission’s view that empowering startups [...]
ACT | The App Association Joins 21 APEC Member Nations for Ministerial Meeting to Support Small Businesses
WASHINGTON – This week ACT | The App Association Senior Global Counsel Brian Scarpelli participated in the Innovation Network Forum for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), held around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC’s) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Ministerial meeting in Jeju, Republic of Korea, a key forum for the 21 APEC member economies to collaborate on ways to create a policy environment for emerging technologies that supports SME growth, drives innovation, and preserves consumer security and trust. A [...]