WASHINGTON – Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, issued the following statement regarding the jury verdict in Epic Games v. Google, which found that Google violated antitrust laws with its business practices related to its mobile app store. 

“I am not surprised by this verdict. Google effectively has a 30 percent app store tax on small businesses and innovators that bring new products and services to our smartphones. Our fight for fairer competition and rules of the road for mobile app stores and other online marketplaces is gaining momentum. Now, we must take the next step in Congress to finally update our consumer laws for the digital age.”

Klobuchar is a co-sponsor of the Open App Markets Act alongside Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). This bill will protect developers’ rights to tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing; open up competitive avenues for startup apps, third party app stores, and payment services; make it possible for developers to offer new experiences that take advantage of consumer device features; give consumers more control over their devices; and prevent app stores from disadvantaging developers who compete with them, all while enabling companies to continue to protect privacy, security, and safety of consumers.

Klobuchar and Senator Grassley also introduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act to set commonsense rules of the road for major digital platforms to ensure they cannot unfairly preference their own products and services. 

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