Match Group’s Chief Legal Officer Jared Sine is due to appear as a witness at tomorrow’s antitrust hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
High-ranking executives from both Apple and Google will also be testifying, as the technology giants are investigated over allegations that they hold a monopoly over the mobile app market.
This is the latest development to come from developers complaints about the way app stores operate. They don’t like the mandatory 30% commission fees, which are particularly harmful to smaller creators and lead to higher prices for consumers.
Legal representatives from music streaming service Spotify and tracking device producer Tile are also preparing to testify.
The Senate subcommittee that is investigating the matter wrote a letter to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook demanding that a witness from the company should appear at the hearing.
As reported by Bloomberg, the letter said: “Apple’s power over the cost, distribution, and availability of mobile applications on the Apple devices used by millions of consumers raises serious competition issues that are of interest to the subcommittee, consumers, and app developers.
“A full and fair examination of these issues before the subcommittee requires Apple’s participation.”
The Coalition For App Fairness was formed in September 2020, with Match Group as one of the founding members. Its aims are to oppose the current restrictions and open up a level playing field for all mobile app developers.
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