American Small Business Success Relies on Growth Options, Not Limitations: Statement on FTC/DOJ Proposed Merger Guidelines
For the more than 33.2 million startups or small businesses operating in the United States, success means the ability to explore various acquisition avenues that can enhance products and streamline market entry. Options empower our economy, and limiting choices for small businesses to explore a strategic acquisition or merger would limit possibilities for our nation’s innovators and consumers. At ACT | The App Association, our members have always embraced the idea that once their innovative concepts materialize, acquisition becomes a [...]
Labelling Third-Party Tools as Wiretapping Will Negatively Impact Small Businesses
The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) is a statute that prohibits wiretapping or recording confidential communications. Originally enacted in 1967, CIPA is California’s version of the state law incarnations of the federal Wiretap Act. Although there are no specifications set for the monetary penalty available in cases brought under CIPA, lawsuits could carry a penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per person affected, which is an attractive proposition for trial attorneys. Due to these potentially substantial payouts and [...]
Standard Essential-Patents (SEPs) in the UK
Summary The current SEP licensing landscape furthers the interests of a few large international SEP holders, while creating disproportionate barriers to the innovation ambitions of small businesses in the United Kingdom (UK). New survey data and UK High Court findings have demonstrated the urgent need for action to protect the interests of small UK businesses seeking to innovate IoT technologies. The IoT ecosystem is expected to generate €12.5 billion for the global economy by 2030, with much of this innovation [...]
Understanding the Cyber Resilience Act: What the CRA Means for Europe’s App Economy
The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) aims at further harmonising and improving cybersecurity in Europe. It represents a significant step in bolstering cybersecurity measures in Europe by adopting a risk-based methodology. Essentially, this means that products with a higher risk profile will be subjected to stricter requirements, and a set of common foundational rules will be applied across all manufacturers, importers, and distributors of such products, to both large and small companies. The CRA includes rules for placing products on the [...]
ACT | The App Association Comments on Adequacy Decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework
ACT | The App Association welcomes the European Commission’s adoption of an adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which President Biden and European Commission President von der Leyen announced in March 2022. This new framework will play a crucial role in ensuring the continued protection of data and restoring seamless data flows between the two regions. As we’ve written numerous times, and explored in-depth in an expert roundtable and accompanying report, Privacy Shield served as a vital transfer mechanism for small [...]
The App Association Provides Policy Recommendations for AI
Policy Recommendations for AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) is clearly a priority for policymakers, with 37 AI-related laws enacted globally, more than 80 pending legislative proposals at the state level and several more at the federal level. To understand and shape rules for this complex and evolving technology, a vital voice—that of small businesses, members of ACT| The App Association—must be prioritized in order to create a competitive, safe, and secure AI future. We initially released these principles in 2021. However, [...]