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Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

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Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#381

Post by chapium »

dessant wrote: post #235

Google Play In-app Billing does not support donations [1], so open source developers should be allowed to link to their own donation pages. Google Play policies do not spell out that linking to donation platforms such as Patreon is forbidden. Disallowing developers from using in-app billing for donations, while also barring them from linking to external donation platforms, puts open source projects in a difficult pos…

> Google Play In-app Billing does not support donations [1], so open source developers should be allowed to link to their own donation pages.

Ok, I had to stop there. They have no claim to this as long as they distribute within the store. It would be nice if google allowed this, but there is no obligation. App Stores are monopolies and should be regulated to allow open distribution.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#382

Post by greggman2 »

tolmasky wrote: post #367
krn wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Disallowing developers from using in-app billing for donations, while also barring them from linking to external donation platforms, puts open source projects in a difficult position, and appears to be overly hostile towards funding open source development. Google Play has been very clear about this[1]: > Fund solicitations > Examples: Donation solicitations from parties without a valid 501(c)(3) tax exempt status…

Sure, but why ? If the rules clearly said "no chess games", one could say "that ends the discussion of why chess games are denied", or you could further ask "but why are no chess games allowed?". Is it because Google plans on having their own Google-Chess someday and thus is preemptively preventing competition? Is there a technical or regulatory reason chess games aren't allowed? That's the question (at least for me)…

My guess is it's ripe for fraud. Find open source app, put on Google with your donation platform of choice, profit!

By requiring government registration my guess is the hope is both that the fraudsters will be caught or dissuaded and if they do make it past the government registration then when the real devs complain Google can say "take it up with the government. They mis-licensed. We just followed their license"

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#384

Post by snowflakeandrey »

panopticon wrote: post #345
RedComet wrote: post #309

Ah yes, the multi-billion dollar megacorp trying to prevent goodwill donations. Dear regulators: BREAK UP GOOGLE.

To play devil's advocate, I'm sure Google's intent is to prevent garbage apps from spamming or tricking users into paying money and the resulting PR backlash from having an app store full of shady apps. As evidence of this, Google does allow donations if the publisher is a 501(c)(3) (see https://support.google.com/faqs/answer/75724?hl=en ).

A 501(c)(3) application costs at least $275 and takes 2-12 months to process. That seems all right if you're a SV SWE registering something on the side of your regular 6 figure income, but for a lot of folks around the world, that seems a largely no-go way to support their project.

If this is really an attempt at preventing garbage apps from spamming or tricking users, this is both overly broad (many false positives) and badly targeted (many false negatives). Why is it that iOS doesn't have this policy, and has significantly fewer garbage apps?

Maybe if Google were to allow third party app stores, folks could choose the one that fits their ability to evaluate the sophistication of apps themselves. For example, some folks might want to pay for extra security checks on the apps they use, while others want to install anything and everything under the sun.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#385

Post by xyzzy_plugh »

dessant wrote: post #377
xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty obtuse to only permit 501(c)(3)s. Likely this is Google avoiding additional regulatory complications/KYC. It's cumbersome to prove you're not enabling money laundering or funding terrorist organizations if you're an arbitrary money sink. But I'd expect better than Google, a business with an astounding $836B market cap. They could just buy a company that primarily handles this sort of money flow (e.g. Stre…

It's understandable that they want to process payments only for registered organizations, but that still does not explain why are open source apps being taken down for linking to an external page that lists ways to support projects.

Probably because Google or it's financial partners have compliance programs that require all money flows they enable go through the required regulatory channels.

If an affiliated party is breaking regulations, you can often get in trouble by continuing to be associated with them once you're aware, and ignorance isn't a valid defense.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#386

Post by snowflakeandrey »

jldugger wrote: post #383
RedComet wrote: post #309

Ah yes, the multi-billion dollar megacorp trying to prevent goodwill donations. Dear regulators: BREAK UP GOOGLE.

You think a breakup will change anything?

Yes — if there were real competition between multiple app stores, some of which provided better systems of vetting than others (both for users and for developers), then the kinds of stores that had these policies would die off.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#388

Post by dTal »

phkahler wrote: post #376
_-david-_ wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Open source developers shouldn't be forced to lock away additional functionality in their app The additional feature can just be text that says thanks for the money, feel free to give us more money in the future.

Better yet, just charge a dollar for the app. Link from the primary website to the app store, so people can buy the right one.

No thanks. If I'm donating to a good cause, I don't want the App Mafia taking a 30% cut. That just reinforces this bad behavior.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#389

Post by malka »

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90
black_puppydog wrote: post #77

The very same thing happened to manyverse (android ssb client) the other day. Got de-listed, resubmitted without donation page, now it's back up. How google tries to claim any sort of support for open source is beyond me. What open source app doesn't need a donation link? Those approved and funded by google don't, okay. But other than that?

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

So Google get what they want. The sweet 30pc cut on donations

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#390

Post by kllrnohj »

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #261
nyolfen wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hazarding a guess, i’m assuming people tried using off-platform payments described as donations to sidestep play store payments

Yes. This is what I suspect. But knocking out all donations using a big ban hammer is not acceptable here, it should be decided on a case-by-case basis. For example, a standard I can think of, is distinguishing donations and payments that influence the functionality of the application/service, and those that have no effect.

> But knocking out all donations using a big ban hammer is not acceptable here

To be fair they didn't. You can accept donations if you're an actual charity (like Wikipedia is). The line they drew isn't perfectly fair, no, but it's not a full ban hammer, either.

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