FORBES - Apr 22 - Executives from Apple and Google fielded accusations of anti-competitive behavior from lawmakers and other technology companies during an antitrust hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Executives from Spotify and Match Group contend that the tech giants have used their dominant positions in the app platform space to charge commissions as high as 30% of app developers' total sales. Rebutting the allegations were Apple's chief compliance officer and VP of corporate law, Kyle Andeer, and Google's senior director of public policy and government relations, Wilson White. Both highlighted how their platforms have helped developers reach billions of customers worldwide. "When we introduced the App Store in 2008, creating software was difficult and often expensive," said Andeer. "Apple has invested "significantly" to build 250K application programming interfaces. The App Store isn't just a store. It's a studio stacked with canvases and brushes and paints - the tools that artists need to create their works. And it's a gallery where they can display and sell their creations." Match Group's chief legal officer, Jared Sine, meanwhile, sharply criticized both marketplaces as anticompetitive monopolies. The fee from the App Store is Match Group's single largest expense, at over half a billion dollars. Sine also criticized Google, contending that it lured the online dating company to the Android ecosystem "under false pretenses" that the platform was free. "We're all afraid, is the reality, Senator," he added.
by Angel Au-Yeung
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