Cicilline said that a proposal prohibiting tech platforms from giving an advantage to their own products over those of competitors would mean Apple can't ship devices with pre-installed apps on its iOS operating platform.

Cicilline thinks it would be equally easy to download the other five apps as the Apple one so they're not using their market dominance to favour their own products and services.

The proposal is part of a package of bipartisan bills that would impose significant new constraints on how tech companies operate, restricting acquisitions and forcing them to exit some businesses.

The House Judiciary Committee will mark up the five bills in a hearing next week, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the committee's chairman, said.

Of course, it is a long way to getting to be a law. There is a considerable amount of lobbying to be done by Apple, and there will be negative reporting in the Tame Apple Press. Then Apple will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court on the law.