Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, will appear before the US House Judiciary Committee on July 27, where he will testify as part of an investigation into the affairs of large tech companies.
Cook will appear as a witness alongside other large-company executives such as Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sundar Pichai (Google) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), according to a press release released Monday.
"Since last June, the subcommittee has investigated the dominance of a small group of digital platforms and the adequacy and enforcement of current antitrust laws," they say in the statement. “Given the central role these companies play in American lives, it is imperative that their CEOs are open to appear. As we have said from the beginning, your testimony is essential for us to complete the investigation. "
Last year, the subcommittee announced an investigation into 'platform gatekeepers' and 'dominant' tech companies. Apple is under scrutiny for its activity in the App Store, the so-called "Sherlocking" tactic of other applications (whereby Apple incorporates functionality previously offered by other developers into its applications and operating systems, potentially putting them out of business) and the systematic removal of parental control app.
The committee will likely try to pressure Cook over recent App Store disputes, including the 30% commission for in-app purchases and subscriptions.
In June, Basecamp, creators of an email app, protested Apple's policies and refused to incorporate in-app purchase options into their new Hey email client. As a result, Apple denied approval of the app updates and threatened to remove it from the App Store for failing to abide by the App Store rules. After an infamous public struggle, Apple approved a version of Hey that included a free trial period while Basecamp works on a new version that better complies with App Store rules.
Although Apple executives have said they have no plans to change the rules, the reality is that just before WWDC began, changes were made to the App Store rules that loosened options for developers to discuss the rules. with Apple.
In addition to this antitrust investigation, the Justice Department is also investigating App Store policies.
