Pressure to differentiate Amazon and App Stores is mounting

A group of senators has announced plans to introduce a nondiscrimination law that could reshape Amazon’s online marketplace.

After months of hearings and negotiations, pressure is mounting in the Senate to pass new laws that would ban online platforms from giving preference to their own products and services over those of their competitors.

The US Online Choice and Innovation Act prevents companies like Amazon, Apple and Google from using their dominance to harm the companies and other competitors who use their platforms.

House lawmakers voted on a bill in June of the same name from the Judiciary Committee. The Senate version does not match the House version. But it shares a similar language.

This announcement comes after a report Published by Reuters claims that Amazon used market research data to copy popular products and manipulate results in favor of the company’s own fakes.

showed Investigation New from The Markup is also that the company is putting its products ahead of its competitors. Sellers have accused Amazon for years of similar behaviour.

The accusations were part of the House’s years-long antitrust investigation into Amazon and other tech giants by lawmakers, galvanizing the original bipartisan bill in the House.

The lawmakers said: When dominant tech companies exclude competitors and kill competition, it hurts small businesses and can increase costs for you. The new bill establishes new rules to prevent large companies from outselling their smaller competitors.

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The law could reshape the Amazon market

Aside from Amazon, the bill could also change how Apple and Google operate their app stores. It may prevent companies from giving preference to their applications.

Apple was asked earlier this year to allow app developers to send iOS users to payment options. This is unlike those offered by the manufacturer of iPhone phones.

This bipartisan support represents an important step forward for lawmakers seeking to regulate online marketplaces. This indicates that both Republicans and Democrats are willing to work together to stimulate competition in the industry.

Despite widespread support from Congress for this measure. The Chamber of Progress released a statement noting that the bill harms, and will not enhance, online customer experiences.

Banning Amazon from selling Amazon Basics and banning Google Maps from search results will not improve the Internet for families, the organization said. It’s like calling an auto mechanic to fix a laptop.

And pressure is mounting on Congress to act on online marketplaces and counterfeit products, too. Legislators in the House of Representatives last week introduced a law INFORMwhich requires platforms such as Amazon to verify the identities of sellers in bulk in order to reduce the sale of counterfeit products.

Read also: Amazon fakes search results to promote its brands