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Ahead of a markup this week on a bill to open up App Store markets, an industry group released a poll showing over 80 percent of developers back curtailing the market power of Apple and Google.
Spotify also announced it will add a “content advisory” notice to podcasts that discuss COVID-19.
Let’s jump into the news.
Developers back App Store reform
Eighty-four percent of app developers support an antitrust bill aimed at curtailing the market power of Apple and Google’s app stores, according to a poll from the Coalition for App Fairness released Monday.
The industry group for app developers is pushing Congress to pass the Open App Markets Act, a bipartisan Senate bill that would block app stores from favoring their own in-house apps in searches, requiring developers to use their payment systems and preventing users from downloading apps from third-party stores.
Developers surveyed by the group complained about exorbitant fees charged by the largest app stores — Apple charges a 30 percent commission on app store sales for large developers — and expressed how they’d experienced difficulty getting their apps featured or accepted by app stores. Just 13 percent of app developers surveyed oppose the bill.
“The evidence is clear – app developers want the Open App Markets Act to pass so that they can have the opportunity to compete in a fair digital marketplace,” Meghan DiMuzio, executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness, said in a statement.
“For too long, developers have been harmed by gatekeepers’ monopolistic practices, and consumers have suffered from less choice and innovation.”
A MESSAGE FROM CISCO
How did privacy become mission critical for organizations across the world? Find out how organizations view privacy and privacy laws in Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study
Spotify responds to misinformation backlash
Audio streaming giant Spotify announced it will add a content advisory to podcasts that discuss COVID-19 after several musicians boycotted the service due to virus misinformation.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a statement Sunday that the advisory would direct users to COVID-19 Hub, which provides easy access to data-driven facts and expert guidance on the virus.
“This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days,” the statement said. “To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform.”
Ek also said the company will begin testing ways to highlight its Platform Rules in their creator and publisher tools to raise awareness about what’s acceptable on the platform.
Spotify’s changes come as popular musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have asked the company to remove their music in protest of COVID-19 misinformation, particularly on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast.
GOP BIG TECH CRITICS ACCUSED OF ‘HYPOCRISY’
A number of Republican Senate candidates running on anti-Big Tech platforms have stock holdings in the same companies they are vowing to hold accountable if elected to Congress.
That’s drawn accusations, from Democrats and some fellow Republicans, of hypocrisy.
Others say arguing that someone won’t hold Facebook or Google accountable because they have stock in the company is a weak attack and that the conflict-of-interest accusations don’t hold water.
In Ohio, former state GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken has called Big Tech “an arm of the Democrat party” and said that “their immunity privileges must be stripped.” In May, after Facebook said it would keep former President Trump’s account suspended until at least 2023, she said the “censorship of conservatives must end.”
Timken, who is running in a GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), holds stock valued at between $800,000 and $1.6 million in Google, Facebook and Apple through herself and her family, according to her financial disclosure reports. A spokesperson for the Timken campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
In Pennsylvania, Republicans running to fill retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R) seat are also campaigning on anti-Big Tech platforms.
Businessman Jeff Bartos has tweeted about the need to “fight back against Big Tech’s aggressive silencing of conservatives” and that “Big Tech must be reined in.”
His financial disclosure report shows that Bartos, through his spouse, holds stock valued at between $200,000 and $500,000 in Google. He holds stock in Apple valued between $300,000 and $600,000 through a spouse and in a joint account.
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
The New York Times has acquired the worldwide sensation word puzzle game Wordle, creator Josh Wardle announced on Twitter on Monday.
“Since launching Wordle, I’ve been in awe of the response from everyone that has played,” Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn, wrote in the statement. “The game has gotten bigger than I ever imagined (which I suppose isn’t that much of a feat given I made the game for an audience of 1).”
Wardle added that the popular game, released in October 2021, began to become a handful after the game’s explosion in popularity led to its rapid growth and development.
On Nov. 1, only 90 people played the game before a surge in popularity took to 300,000 players just two months later, according to The New York Times. Today, the popular puzzle game reportedly has millions of daily players.
A MESSAGE FROM CISCO
How did privacy become mission critical for organizations across the world? Find out how organizations view privacy and privacy laws in Cisco’s 2022 Data Privacy Benchmark Study
BITS AND PIECES
An op-ed to chew on: Washington flashes an ace in the Ukraine standoff
Lighter click: Talk about a time capsule
Notable links from around the web:
How Facebook Is Morphing Into Meta (The New York Times / Sheera Frenkel, Mike Isaac and Ryan Mac)
Profits over politics: AWS and Microsoft execs warn of China’s AI threat while growing AI hubs inside China (Protocol / Kate Kaye)
Sony Buys ‘Destiny’ Game Developer Bungie for $3.6 Billion (Bloomberg / Jason Schreier)
One last thing: Crypto mania
The value of most cryptocurrencies have plummeted in recent weeks, wiping out billions of dollars of wealth.
And instead of mostly harming cryptocurrency enthusiasts, like previous crashes have, the impact was felt widely.
Cryptocurrencies have seen their popularity skyrocket during the pandemic, pulling in countless celebrity endorsements and being integrated into more asset portfolios.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain-based tech like nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are now showing up everywhere from late-night talk shows to Matt Damon commercials. Athletes like Odell Beckham Jr. and mayors like New York City’s Eric Adams (D) have even chosen to have their salary converted into cryptocurrency.
While banks and brokers once scorned cryptocurrencies, a growing number of them now offer purchasing and custody services. The boom has also helped propel several startups, including Robinhood, to new prominence and has even pushed some blockchain-centric firms to seek national banking licenses.
That has made the price drops of the last week, where both bitcoin and ethereum plunged over 40 percent from their highs, all the more damaging.
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s technology and cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.{mosads}