United States of America: Introduced Senate Bill 780 includes competition rules for app stores

On 22 January 2021, the Hawaii Senate Bill 780 is introduced to the Senate of Hawaii, aiming to promote competition across the mobile app ecosystem to protect consumers and developers. The Bill is directed towards any app store above the threshold of yearly sales exceeding USD 10,000,000 in Hawaii. App developers are thereunder prohibited to distort competition by requiring app developers to use a specific app store or payment system, while retaliatory measures against app developers not complying with such requirements are also forbidden. App stores can furthermore also not restrict developers from communicating with their users. Finally, self-preferencing through collected data and otherwise, is also explicitly forbidden. These rules will be enforced by the Attorney General and punishable through means of a civil fine that will in turn be paid to the person affected by the violation of the app store platform.