Bill Text: IL HB3098 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Protect Illinois Technology Jobs Act. Provides that a provider of a digital application distribution platform for which cumulative downloads of software applications from the digital application distribution platform to Illinois users exceed 1,000,000 downloads in the previous or current calendar year may not: (i) require a software application developer that is domiciled in the State to use a particular in-application payment system as a mode of accepting payments from a user for software application downloads or digital purchases; (ii) require use of a particular in-application payment system as a mode of accepting payments from Illinois users to download a software application or purchase a digital or physical product or service through a software application; (iii) retaliate against a developer that is domiciled in the State or an Illinois user for using an in-application payment system or digital application distribution platform that is not owned by, operated by, or affiliated with the provider; or (iv) discriminate against any developer on account of the developer using a third-party payment system to process payments for in-application payments. Exempts special-purpose digital application distribution platforms from the Act. Provides that the Attorney General may receive complaints and investigate violations of the Act. Provides that any person aggrieved by a violation of the Act may commence a civil action. Provides that nothing in the Act shall restrict the ability of a digital application distribution platform to determine the manner in which applications may be downloaded, and specifically, nothing in the Act shall prohibit the ability of a digital application distribution platform to prohibit side-loading of applications. Defines terms.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3098 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3098-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3098 Introduced , by Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
Creates the Protect Illinois Technology Jobs Act. Provides that a provider of a digital application distribution platform for which cumulative downloads of software applications from the digital application distribution platform to Illinois users exceed 1,000,000 downloads in the previous or current calendar year may not: (i) require a software application developer that is domiciled in the State to use a particular in-application payment system as a mode of accepting payments from a user for software application downloads or digital purchases; (ii) require use of a particular in-application payment system as a mode of accepting payments from Illinois users to download a software application or purchase a digital or physical product or service through a software application; (iii) retaliate against a developer that is domiciled in the State or an Illinois user for using an in-application payment system or digital application distribution platform that is not owned by, operated by, or affiliated with the provider; or (iv) discriminate against any developer on account of the developer using a third-party payment system to process payments for in-application payments. Exempts special-purpose digital application distribution platforms from the Act. Provides that the Attorney General may receive complaints and investigate violations of the Act. Provides that any person aggrieved by a violation of the Act may commence a civil action. Provides that nothing in the Act shall restrict the ability of a digital application distribution platform to determine the manner in which applications may be downloaded, and specifically, nothing in the Act shall prohibit the ability of a digital application distribution platform to prohibit side-loading of applications. Defines terms.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning digital application distribution
platforms.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Protect Illinois Technology Jobs Act.
Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Developer" means a creator of software applications
that are made available for download by users through a
digital application distribution platform or other digital
distribution platform.
"Digital application distribution platform" means a
digital distribution platform for applications and
services that are provided to users on general-purpose
hardware, including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets,
personal computers, and other general-purpose devices that
are connected to the Internet. "Digital application
distribution platform" includes a digital distribution
platform that is provided or used for only certain types
of devices, such as certain grades of computing device,
devices that are made by only a particular manufacturer,
or devices that run a particular operating system.
"Domiciled in this State" means a person that conducts

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in this State the substantial portion of work to create or
to maintain digital applications.
"Illinois user" means a user whose most recent address
shown in the records of a provider is located within this
State.
"In-application payment system" means an application,
service, or user interface that is used to process
payments from users to developers for software
applications and digital and physical products and
services distributed through software applications.
"Provider" means a person that owns, operates,
implements, or maintains a digital application
distribution platform or an in-application payment system.
"Special-purpose digital application distribution
platform" means a digital distribution platform
established primarily for use by public safety agencies or
for single or specialized categories of applications,
software, and services that are provided to users on
hardware intended primarily for specific purposes,
including gaming consoles, music players, and other
special-purpose devices that are connected to the
Internet.
Section 10. Digital application distribution platforms;
prohibitions.
(a) A provider of a digital application distribution

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platform for which cumulative downloads of software
applications from the digital application distribution
platform to Illinois users exceed 1,000,000 downloads in the
previous or current calendar year may not do any of the
following:
(1) Require a developer that is domiciled in this
State to use a particular in-application payment system as
a mode of accepting payments from a user to download a
software application or purchase a digital or physical
product or service through a software application.
(2) Require use of a particular in-application payment
system as a mode of accepting payments from Illinois users
to download a software application or purchase a digital
or physical product or service through a software
application.
(3) Retaliate against a developer that is domiciled in
this State or an Illinois user for using an in-application
payment system or digital application distribution
platform that is not owned by, operated by, or affiliated
with the provider or retaliate against a developer for
that use to distribute applications to or accept payments
from Illinois users to download a software application or
purchase a digital or physical product or service through
a software application. Such prohibited acts of
retaliation shall include, but not be limited to, demoting
the search rankings of the developer, removing the

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application from the distribution platform, or slowing
down the application review and approval timelines.
(4) Discriminate against any developer on account of
the developer using a third-party payment system to
process payments for in-application payments. Such
prohibited discrimination shall include, but not be
limited to, charging higher take rates or commissions for
application distribution or any other service provided by
the digital application distribution platform than the
platform charges to applications that either offer no
in-application payment systems or use an in-application
payment system controlled or approved by the platform.
(b) This Act does not apply with respect to
special-purpose digital application distribution platforms.
(c) The Attorney General may receive complaints and
investigate violations of this Act and may bring an action in
any court of competent jurisdiction to obtain legal or
equitable relief on behalf of a person aggrieved by the
violation.
(d) Any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act may
commence a civil action on the person's own behalf in any court
of competent jurisdiction to obtain legal or equitable relief,
including reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
(e) An action may not be commenced under subsection (d)
until 60 days after the person allegedly aggrieved by a
violation of this Act has given notice of the alleged

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violation to the Attorney General. An action may not be
commenced under subsection (d) if the Attorney General has
commenced and is diligently prosecuting an action in court
arising from the same alleged violation.
(f) Nothing in this Act shall restrict the ability of a
digital application distribution platform to determine the
manner in which applications may be downloaded, and
specifically, nothing in this Act shall prohibit the ability
of a digital application distribution platform to prohibit
side-loading of applications.