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Open Web Advocacy
Founded2021; 3 years ago (2021)
Founders
  • Alex Moore
  • James Moore [1]
Typenot-for-profit organization
PurposeDigital rights, Internet activism
Area served
International
Volunteers
40 [1]
Websiteopen-web-advocacy.org[2]

Open Web Advocacy (OWA) is an international not-for-profit digital rights group, consisting mostly of individual software engineers who are advocating for the future of the open web. The group was formed in 2021 by Alex Moore and James Moore to advocate for the future of the open web by providing regulators, legislators and policy makers the intricate technical details that they need to understand to address the major anti-competitive issues with big tech companies.[2][3][4][5]

OWA presents research, assists regulators, legislators and policy makers, promotes web browser choice by means of challenging large technology companies' anti-competitive third party browser engine bans, champions the use and equality of progressive web apps over native apps.[2][3][4][5]

History

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Open Web Advocacy group was formed in 2021 by Alex Moore and James Moore to challenge Apple's anti-competitive rules around web browsers and third party browser engines for the App Store. At the time of foundation, OWA's primary concern was Apple's iOS App Store Guidelines, which require every browser running on iPhones and iPads to be based on WebKit, the open source project overseen by Apple that serves as the rendering engine for the company's Safari (web browser).[3][4][5]

In October 2023, Open Web Advocacy group was granted half a million dollars by Jack Dorsey's public fund Start Small Foundation.[6]

Advocacy

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In February 2022, OWA started its advocacy activities by communicating with the United Kingdom Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) to convince the agency that Apple's iOS browser policy harms competition.[3][4][5] The group, their responses and advocacy efforts were extensively cited in both the interim and final versions of the CMA's Mobile ecosystems market study investigation report.[7][8]

In August 2022, it was reported that after complaints from the OWA, the European Commission added a section focused on browser developers, as well as browser engines and their potential to be abused in an anticompetitive fashion to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes penalties on companies that haven't adopted EU's recommendations by 2024.[9]

In September 2022, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) published its 214-page Digital Platform Services Inquiry interim report, which among many topics talks about browsers and progressive web apps, and widely cited Open Web Advocacy group's 14-page response to ACCC, covering issues around Apple's third party browser engine ban on iOS devices and its effect on the open web as a whole.[10][11]

In March 2023, Open Web Advocacy group took the stage to talk at the European Union DMA Apple workshop, where OWA's founder Alex Moore, talked about the web, web apps, and their importance to the future of mobile ecosystems.[12][13]

Alex Moore (founder) at the Apple EU hearing from 2023

In June 2023, the office of the Prime Minister of Japan published the summary of their Competition Assessment of the Mobile Ecosystem Report, in which they highlighted Open Web Advocacy's research under the browser functionality restrictions section of the report, which is about Apple's WebKit-browser-engine mandate for all third party browsers on iOS.[14]

In September 2023, the Linux Foundation published a research document titled A New Direction for the Mobile Industry mentioning that Open Web Advocacy's advocacy work around the web and web apps had the biggest impact in helping the regulators.[15]

In November 2023, Open Web Advocacy submitted a response to EU's DMA investigation into Apple iPad OS, expressing their view that Apple's attempting to avoid regulation in the EU by making a claim that it offers not one but three distinct web browsers, all named Safari.[16][17]

In January, 2024, Mozilla published a letter calling out Apple, Google and Microsoft, in an attempt to document the Uneven Playing Field for an Independent Browser Like Firefox, in which they were particularly appreciative of Open Web Advocacy's advocacy work.[18]

In March 2024, representing the Open Web Advocacy group, John Ozbay attended the European Union's DMA workshop hearing for Apple, where OWA confronted Apple, accused Apple of "maliciously" intending "to undermine user choice", and stated that there was no defense for Apple's behavior.In response, -according to the tech news outlet Ars Technica-, Apple's spokesperson "seemed to dodge Ozbay's question".[19][20][21] Within a week of the workshop hearing, the European Union announced a DMA non-compliance investigation against Apple.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

On the 21st of March 2024, the United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, where in the complaint they stated “Developers cannot avoid Apple’s control of app distribution and app creation by making web apps” and “Apple can still control the functionality of web apps because Apple requires all web browsers on the iPhone to use WebKit, Apple’s browser engine”.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]

On June 12, 2024, Japan's parliament passed a bill to encourage free competition in app marketplaces, allowing third-party app stores on Android and iOS, following the example set forth by the European Union's DMA.[38][39][40] The bill is based off of the Competition Assessment of the Mobile Ecosystem, released in June 2023 by the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, in which they highlighted Open Web Advocacy's research under the browser functionality restrictions section of the report.[14]

Open Letters

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In June 2023, in a letter to the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Open Web Advocacy, together with organizations such as Coalition for App Fairness, DuckDuckGo, Expedia Group, Skyscanner and many others, have called on Rishi Sunak to unleash the full potential of the UK's digital economy by maintaining a robust and flexible appeals process in the new regime for digital markets.[41]

In February, 2024, following Apple's decision to remove Web Apps from iOS and Safari in the European Union (EU),[42][43] Open Web Advocacy published an open letter to Tim Cook, expressing their concern. During the first 48 hours, the letter attracted thousands of signatories including: Members of the European Parliament (Karen Melchior and Patrick Breyer); and thousands of other developers and organizations.[44][45] As a result, the following day, Apple backed off, and reversed course on plan to cut off progressive web apps in the EU.[46][47][48][49][50][51][52]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "A group of software engineers from all over the world who have come together to advocate for the future of the open web". open-web-advocacy.org. Open Web Advocacy. 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Open Web Advocacy". open-web-advocacy.org. Open Web Advocacy. 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Claburn, Thomas (February 28, 2022). "Web devs rally to challenge Apple App Store browser rules". The Register. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Espósito, Filipe (March 1, 2022). "Web developers challenge Apple to allow other browser engines on iOS". 9to5Mac. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Tim, Hardwick (March 2, 2022). "Web Developers Form Advocacy Group to Allow Other Browser Engines on iOS". MacRumors. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  6. ^ "Start Small Fund". startsmall.llc. StartSmall. 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "Mobile ecosystems market study". gov.uk. Competition & Markets Authority. March 11, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  8. ^ "Mobile ecosystems final report" (PDF). gov.uk. Competition & Markets Authority. June 10, 2022. pp. 158, 161, 312. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Kruppa, Miles (August 18, 2022). "Browser Startups Take Aim at Google Chrome, Apple Safari". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  10. ^ "Digital platform services inquiry 2020-25 - September 2022 interim report". accc.gov.au. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. September 30, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  11. ^ "Digital platform services inquiry 2020-25 - September 2022 interim report" (PDF). accc.gov.au. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. September 30, 2022. pp. 125, 126, 131, 145, 157, 158, 161, 163, 164. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  12. ^ "EU DMA Workshop Agenda" (PDF). competition-policy.ec.europa.eu. European Union. March 6, 2023. p. 2. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  13. ^ "Open Web Advocacy speech at the Digital Markets Act Workshop". youtube.com. Youtube (Open Web Advocacy). March 14, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Competition Assessment of the Mobile Ecosystem Final Report : Summary" (PDF). kantei.go.jp. Prime Minister's Office of Japan. June 16, 2023. pp. 25–26. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  15. ^ "A New Direction for the Mobile Industry" (PDF). linuxfoundation.org. Linux Foundation. September 25, 2023. pp. 12, 18, 27, 29, 30, 31. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  16. ^ "OWA submits response to EU DMA investigation into Apple iPadOS". open-web-advocacy.org. Open Web Advocacy. November 21, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  17. ^ Claburn, Thomas (February 28, 2022). "In quest to defeat Euro red-tape, Apple said it had three Safari browsers – not one". The Register. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  18. ^ "Platform Tilt: Documenting the Uneven Playing Field for an Independent Browser Like Firefox". blog.mozilla.org. Mozilla. January 19, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  19. ^ Belanger, Ashley (April 10, 2024). "Report: People are bailing on Safari after DMA makes changing defaults easier". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  20. ^ "OWA v Apple: EC DMA Q&A 1 - Safari gets exclusive rights to default hot-seat incl via choice screen?". Youtube : Open Web Advocacy. March 27, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  21. ^ Moussie, Stéphane (March 19, 2024). "Entre fermeté et ouverture, comment Apple a défendu son plan 1.0 de conformité au DMA". iGeneration (in French). Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  22. ^ "Commission opens non-compliance investigations against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act". European Union. March 25, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  23. ^ Satariano, Adam (March 25, 2024). "E.U. Takes Aim at Alphabet, Apple and Meta in Wide-Ranging Investigations". New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  24. ^ Armangau, Romane (March 25, 2024). "Apple, Facebook, Google investigated under Brussels' Digital Markets Act". Euronews. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  25. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (March 25, 2024). "EU launches probe into Meta, Apple and Alphabet under sweeping new tech law". CNBC. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  26. ^ Mackrael, Kim (March 25, 2024). "Apple, Meta, Google Probed by EU Under New Digital-Competition Law". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  27. ^ Gerken, Tom (March 25, 2024). "Apple, Meta and Google to be investigated by the EU". BBC News. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Porter, Jon (March 25, 2024). "Apple, Meta, and Google targeted by EU in DMA non-compliance investigations". The Verge. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  29. ^ "EU opens DMA investigations of Apple, Meta, Google". Open Web Advocacy Blog. March 25, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  30. ^ "Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets". U.S. Department of Justice. March 21, 2024. pp. 22, 23. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  31. ^ "Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets". United States Department of Justice. March 21, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  32. ^ Fung, Brian (March 21, 2024). "Apple sued in a landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit". CNN. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  33. ^ Rajesh, Ananya Mariam (March 21, 2024). "US DOJ to sue Apple for antitrust violations, Bloomberg News reports". Reuters. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  34. ^ McCabe, David (March 21, 2024). "U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly". New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  35. ^ Liedtke, Michael (March 21, 2024). "Justice Department sues Apple, alleging it illegally monopolized the smartphone market". AP News. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  36. ^ Debusmann, Bernd (March 22, 2024). "Apple lawsuit: US accuses tech giant of monopolising smartphone market". BBC. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  37. ^ Acton, Michael (March 22, 2024). "'Apple is going to war': US lawsuit adds to iPhone maker's antitrust woes". Financial Times. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  38. ^ "Regarding the passage of the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software". Japan Fair Trade Commission. June 12, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  39. ^ "Bill passed to encourage free competition in app market". Asahi Shimbun. June 12, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  40. ^ "Japan passes new law allowing third-party app stores on Android and iOS". Techspot. June 13, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  41. ^ "Digital Markets Bill: Coalition Calls On Prime Minister To Support 'Robust And Flexible' Regulation". newsmediauk.org. News Media Association. June 22, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  42. ^ Perez, Sarah (February 15, 2024). "Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  43. ^ Roth, Emma (February 15, 2024). "Yep, Apple's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU". The Verge. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  44. ^ "Open Letter to Tim Cook, Sabotaging Web Apps Is Indefensible". Open Web Advocacy. February 26, 2024. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  45. ^ "Cryptee, Open Web Advocacy & EU vs Apple: Part 2". Cryptee Blog. February 22, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  46. ^ Acton, Michael (March 1, 2024). "Apple reverses course on plan to cut off 'progressive web apps' in EU". Financial Times. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  47. ^ "Apple reverses decision to disable home screen web apps in EU". Reuters. March 1, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  48. ^ Phelan, David (March 1, 2024). "iOS 17.4: Apple Confirms Surprise U-Turn For Next iPhone Update". Forbes. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  49. ^ Purdy, Kevin (March 1, 2024). "Apple changes course, will keep iPhone EU web apps how they are in iOS 17.4". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  50. ^ Roth, Emma (March 1, 2024). "Now Apple says it won't disable iPhone web apps in the EU". The Verge. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  51. ^ Metha, Ivan (March 1, 2024). "Apple reverses decision about blocking web apps on iPhones in the EU". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  52. ^ Claburn, Thomas (March 2, 2024). "EU-turn! Now Apple says it won't banish Home Screen web apps in Europe". The Register. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
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