Debunking the “Contracts” Red Herring in App Store Age Verification
As App Store Accountability Act proponents put more chum in the water, one particular red herring stands out. Specifically, some of the proponents of the bills argue that because minors’ use of an app store involves an agreement, a statutory mandate should exist for app stores to obtain parental consent to download an app. This argument is based on false premises and is entirely beside the point in a few ways: Minors enter voidable contracts all the time. The [...]
Small Tech, Big Impact: Celebrating Innovation During Small Business Week
As the nation marks National Small Business Week, we’re celebrating our way by bringing the voices of small tech innovators straight to Capitol Hill. From May 4 to 7, ACT | The App Association is convening more than 60 small business members from nearly 50 unique companies nationwide for our annual Global App Economy Conference: U.S. (GAEC: U.S.) in Washington, D.C. Our members aren’t just industry leaders; they’re technologists, job creators, and community builders powering the $6.3 trillion app [...]
Statement by Morgan Reed, president of ACT | The App Association on the Announcement of App Store Accountability Act
App developers depend on clear and consistent rules of the road that support innovation and allow them to continue to be leaders in providing parents sensible ways to protect their kids from inappropriate content online. Responding to the announcement by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. John James (R-MI) ACT | The App Association issued the following statement: “Today’s announcement of Meta’s self-serving solution to avoid their responsibility to protect kids is deplorable. It’s a one-size fits all approach built [...]
Apps are Businesses, not Items on the Shelf
For users, it’s easy to think of an app store as a big box retailer. You browse the shelves, find the app you want, and make your purchase. Unfortunately, policymakers are beginning to look at app stores this way too. This is a problem because developers know that apps aren’t just products on a shelf; they are businesses all their own. Late last year, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against Google in Epic [...]