Minnesota Introduces New App Store Reform Law After Failed North Dakota Bill

After a failed bill was proposed in North Dakota earlier this month that would have forced Apple to allow developers to side-load apps and use other in-app payments, a similar bill was officially introduced in Minnesota.

Arizona introduced similar legislation this week and now Minnesota has followed in North Dakota’s footsteps as well. Notably, the anti-App Store bill in the latter state was not passed by 36 votes to 11 last week.

Reported by StarTribune, Minnesota’s new bill tabled last week seeks to reform the power of Apple and Google to remove apps from their stores:

The proposal – introduced quietly last week – would force the two tech giants to keep products from Minnesota developers in their app stores, even if those developers sell them directly or through other channels.

Here’s what Bill’s sponsor, Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids had to say:

“A lot of people are concerned about the increased influence and power of Big Tech, and I think there’s a lot of interest in trying to make sure we have a fair and open digital economy,” said the representing Zack Stephenson, DFL- Coon Rapids, who sponsored the bill in the House.

Apple and Google have not commented on the matter, but the StarTribune said they were both lobbying against the Minnesota bill.

Apple did not return a request for comment for this story, while Google declined to comment on Minnesota’s legislation. But both groups are privately lobbying individual lawmakers to oppose the measure.

One of Apple and Google’s allies is the “Americans for Prosperity” group:

Jason Flohrs, U.S. State Director for Minnesota Prosperity, said there were concerns about the privacy and security of authorizing other payment processing providers in the App Store, and the group is fundamentally opposed to any legislation where the government tries to put a “mandate on private companies.” “

It probably won’t be long before we find out how lawmakers in Minnesota and Arizona will vote on the new bills and there will almost certainly be other states doing the same shortly.

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