Calling All Senators: Developers Need Relief
Over the past few months, ACT | The App Association and our members have been at the forefront of advocating to restore crucial research and development (R&D) tax relief found in Section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Rewarding best practices through tax incentives, such as R&D deductions, empowers small companies to improve business cash flow and increase investment capabilities. The introduction of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 marks a commendable stride towards [...]
Buyer’s Remorse: App Giants Reap What They Sow in Europe
Well, well, well, the saying goes … if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions. As compliance plans roll out under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe, self-aware DMA advocates must be thinking these rueful thoughts. But it’s never a sentiment anyone wants to express unironically in public. The largest companies in the world that distribute apps through the main app stores certainly are not admitting they made a mistake. Instead, they’re melting down over Apple’s compliance plan, [...]
Developers Respond to DMA Compliance Plans: “Wait and See”
Last week Apple announced changes to the terms of service for developers and others seeking to be part of the iPhone ecosystem. These changes, implemented for European Union (EU) citizens as part of the compliance requirements under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), created a brief moment of hand wringing on X (formerly Twitter) by talking heads and the handful of companies seeking to renegotiate Apple’s service fees. Ultimately though, the vast majority of mobile app developers replied with a [...]
Empowering Global App Innovation: ACT | The App Association and Shtudy Join Forces to Champion Diversity and Advance Tech Entrepreneurship Policy Awareness
Washington, D.C. (February 8, 2024) ACT | The App Association, a global trade association fostering innovation in the app ecosystem, and Shtudy, the leading diversity hiring solution for tech companies and App Association member, proudly announce their strategic partnership aimed at enhancing diversity, innovation, and career growth in the tech industry. According to BestColleges.com, Black and Latino/a workers are underrepresented in tech. Today, Black employees make up 13 percent of the workforce but only 4 percent of tech workers. And while [...]
Small Biz Bears the Cost When FTC Skips Steps on Mergers
Last week, ACT | The App Association sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlighting that the FTC’s proposed updates to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) merger notification rule fail to properly account for small business concerns. In assuming that the rule would have no significant effect on small companies, the FTC missed a key opportunity to bring small businesses to the table to provide input on how the rule might undermine their prospects. The oversight is an unfortunate result [...]
Make the EU ex-SEP-tional: Be a friend to SME innovation and vote yes on the EU SEP Regulation
Recently, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament took a significant step forward in advancing the much-needed standard-essential patent (SEP) regulation in the European Union that would curb SEP licensing practices that continue to harm and distort competition across consumer and enterprise markets. This development is important to the ACT | The App Association’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) members because they so often seek to build on standardized technologies as they create new IoT innovations, yet are [...]