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Abstract

As consumer technology markets mature, one must question why the ways we use our devices are so restrictive. Some landmark legal cases, such as Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., have sought to address that question. Additionally, regulators have recognized the need for better software distribution. The European Union recently forced Apple to open its iPhone to third-party application stores via the Digital Markets Act. The Department of Justice attacked the closed nature of the iPhone. This shift in sentiments, however, is not restricted to smartphones and will become more critical as emerging technologies vie for consumer attention. Almost every consumer technology category has an example of a walled garden, a closed ecosystem of distinct functions restricted from other ecosystems under ordinary conditions. Walled gardens may lead to greater convenience and safety but come with overbearing costs. Limitations in consumer choice, developer choice, and consumer welfare have rung few alarm bells relative to the scope of the issues. This scenario is true for video game software markets, with digital-only software distribution becoming the norm despite a history of relative openness. In smartphones, there exists only one centralized digital software marketplace for Apple devices, the App Store, and effectively only one digital software marketplace for Android devices, though others are technically available. In the emerging cloud computing market, the major companies seem to be entrenching the same anti-consumer and anti-developer conditions that have existed in other device categories for the past decade. Preventative remedies are necessary to evade a future in which consumers are at the whims of tech giants as to how they may use their personal devices. Common carrier principles are the best place to start, with plenty more potential remedies available to encourage competition in bottlenecked software markets. An interconnected future necessitates rules that champion developer freedom and facilitate consumer choice.

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