Techweb reported on January 21 that Ted Cruz, a member of the US Senate, revealed that Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, had a telephone conversation with himself for 40 minutes before an amendment to the antitrust law was submitted to the Senate for discussion because he was worried that the relevant legislation would affect Apple's app store business. Texas Republican Senator Cruz said he had repeated communication with cook on Wednesday on the American innovation and online Choice Act, which will be submitted to the Senate for discussion and vote the next day. Cruz is a member of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and a key member responsible for amending relevant antitrust legislation. Cook called him directly, which shows that Apple attaches great importance to the details of amending the antitrust law and tries to defend the operation of Apple's app store. Earlier this week, it was reported that cook was in telephone communication or meeting with senators on the legislation. The American innovation and online Choice Act aims to prevent market dominant technology platforms from favoring their own products over other products. Cruz's Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16 in favor and 6 against and decided to submit the bill to the US Senate for discussion on Thursday. If the bill is passed by the Senate in writing, it will legally require apple to allow "sideloading" software, that is, users can install applications through third-party channels outside the Apple App store, allowing app manufacturers and developers to bypass 15% to 30% of the commission fees of the Apple App store. Cruz said that cook expressed his concern about the American innovation and choice online act on the phone, saying that the act may prevent apple from realizing privacy and security functions and affect the company's improvement of its products. "I spoke to Apple CEO Tim Cook for about 40 minutes (Wednesday) and he expressed great concern about the bill," Cruz said "He raised a question that I also think is very reasonable. Apple could have given consumers the choice to accept or reject apps that know what they do online, where they go and what happens on their phones, but Cook was worried that the bill would put obstacles to these functions of apple," Cruz said Apple representatives declined to comment on the phone calls between cook and cruise. But Cook's concerns over the phone were similar to a letter Apple submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. Apple said in the letter that if iPhone users and consumers are allowed to install software directly from the Internet, it may lead to waves of malware. Timothy Powderly, Apple's senior director of government affairs, wrote in the letter that Apple provides consumers with a platform free from malicious and dangerous code. "What I want to clarify is that I don't think the wording of this bill is intended to apply or plan to apply to technology companies that allow consumers to choose whether to withdraw from the privacy protection function or not," cruise said of the bill Cruz said his main concern is how the bill affects the review of social networking platforms or the planning of public debates. This is a topic more relevant to other large technology companies because Apple does not operate social networks. The wording of the American innovation and online Choice Act will affect many large technology companies, not just those running app stores. In addition to apple, companies including alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, twitter and spotify have revealed that they are lobbying against the bill. The second bill under discussion in the U.S. Senate, the open market application bill, mainly affects the operation of apple and Google App Stores. (Xinhua News Agency)