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Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

daringfireball.net

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Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#181

That makes sense. Why would you do business ever again with someone who intentionally breached a contract, publicly smeared you with a calculated negative PR campaign and then sued you? After all this you offer them to allow Fortnite back if they reverse what they've done that breached the contract. Instead, they: - Reject the offer - Carry on smearing you - Lose the court case - Sweeney says they wouldn’t release iO…

I'm ok with Apple not letting Epic on the App Store so long as Apple doesn't forbid me from doing a private business exchange with Epic on my device.

> Apple doesn't forbid me from doing a private business exchange with Epic on my device

I don't think Apple can do that. What Apple can do, is to not allow Epic to use their distribution service, known as AppStore.

What you install on your iDevice is your own business and Apple cannot do anything about it. That's why jailbreaking your device is completely legal, you own your device you paid for and you can do whatever you like with it.

Epic can develop a jailbreak or use a jailbreak distribution service to distribute their Apps. You can hack your phone and if Epic's licensing allows that, you can install Epic games yourself. You can hack your phone, install a special distribution of Android to you iPhone and install it from there.

Apple can't do anything about it. Not easy as tapping a button you say? Well Apple is not obligated to make any of this easy. They make it very clear that they support app installation through Apple AppStore and and no point they promise to help you out to install apps through any other means. If you want to do that, you will have to do it without the help of Apple.

Or you know, don't buy Apple devices if the arrangement doesn't work for you.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tim is in the fight for idealogical reasons, not calculated business ones.

And thank "God" for people like him[1]. Life is unbearable under Tim Cook's "vision", the greed, arrogance and pettiness is at an all-time high, and it's not like it was low before.. [1] Also, nothing is black and white, of course Tim/Epic were looking to get more money from what their customers paid.

Because life under Epics vision of undercutting and delaying releases to Steam is so much more egalitarian and noble

People are rooting for Sweeney due to his alpha nerd rage righteous more than how “good”Epic is to their customers

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#183
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's 30% cut is a cash printing press for them. Sure they have other business models like completely disposable, non-repairable, non-recyclable electronics, but the iTunes and App stores are significant profit centers.

The "Services" category is 21% of their revenue. The "Completely disposable, non-repairable, non-recyclable electronics" category is the rest. https://www.statista.com/statistics/382260/segments-share-re...

Revenue != profit

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s nothing I want to install on an iPhone or iPad that’s not on the App Store.

That's just a lack of imagination. Apple's app store grip prevents whole industries from taking shape.

If I pick up my Motorola I'll see that I can't even have an adblock for the default browser. And yet very soon my iPhone will receive an update that adds generic extensions support into safari. There's an extension that automatically changes amp links to real pages for example.

Android is open as it gets and yet somehow the diversity of software there is lacking. Try finding decent email client that is not Gmail and doesn't suck your data into cloud. iPhone has got multiple and one is OOB.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#185
post #8

It's interesting to compare the situation Epic got itself into with previous episodes of Facebook & Google breaking Apple's rules. When Facebook and Google misused Developer Enterprise certificates to go beyond internal testing and distribute apps to end-consumers , Apple revoked their accounts. Both Facebook & Google simply admitted they screwed up and Apple reinstated their accounts.[1] No lawsuits. Epic broke Appl…

> EDIT reply to some comments saying Epic didn't make a "promise" to comply with Apple's rules…

There is no such promise.

There’s a pile of “if” Apple ignores the rulings and does what Epic wanted in the first place, including rewriting the rules(!), then Epic will comply with the rules rewritten Epic’s way:

”Whether Epic chooses to bring Fortnite back to iOS consumers depends on whether and where Apple updates its guidelines to provide for a level playing field between Apple In-App Purchase and other methods of payment.”

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#186

That makes sense. Why would you do business ever again with someone who intentionally breached a contract, publicly smeared you with a calculated negative PR campaign and then sued you? After all this you offer them to allow Fortnite back if they reverse what they've done that breached the contract. Instead, they: - Reject the offer - Carry on smearing you - Lose the court case - Sweeney says they wouldn’t release iO…

The problem with this logic, is that Apple isn't really a "business" in this case. Epic and Apple aren't really "business partners". Apple is an unregulated privately-owned quasi-government entity with none of the responsibilities or checks on authority that a real government has. You can sue the Post Office, lose your case, and know they can't retaliate by stealing all your mail forever. You can sue the Department o…

>> Apple is acting like a Government, Apple is ruling like a Government, but Apple has none of the oversight or accountability we'd demand from any reasonable Government.

You just listed how Apple is not acting like a government: they’re retaliating. I don’t understand how you can say “Apple’s retaliatory and discriminatory practices in choosing who to do business with is the touchstone of government” at the same time you list four perfectly good examples of a government entity not being able to do exactly what you say is the touchstone of a government.

You’re wrong. Apple is a private company. Doing business with people you want to do business with, and not doing business with people you don’t want to do business with (barring certain discriminatory practices), is literally what distinguishes private companies from government entities. If you want to argue that the App Store or iPhones or iMacs or MacBooks are somehow critical public infrastructure that should be governed by, apparently, common carrier laws then you should do that directly.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#187
post #2

> Epic will resubmit Fortnite to the App Store if you adhere to the plain language of the court order and allow apps to include buttons and external links that direct customers to other purchasing mechanisms without onerous terms or impediments to a good user experience. That seems very reasonable, why wouldn't Apple be forced to comply with the court order?

Epic is appealing the decision. Sweeney is promising to follow the rules but is also trying to take Apple down. Definitely duplicitous. Apple does not have to let Epic back in.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#188
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This lawsuit will cost Apple way more than Epic. It might not hurt Apple that much as a percentage, but in absolute terms it will hurt them plenty. There is a reason they fight this so fervently.

Why? Apple hasn’t lost their 30%, and there’s no indication that they will.

IIRC, they have, in south korea. (that would be a refutation of both points)

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#189
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The remains?? You clearly don’t realise how successful epic is

The other commenters here clearly don’t realize how successful Apple is, or how much more loyal their fans are.

The difference is that nobody said Apple was done for as a company due to this lawsuit. Both Apple and Epic will lose money due to it, but both makes most of their money elsewhere so they can fight to their heart's content.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#190
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My life under Tim Cook's "vision" is pretty sweet when it comes to electronic devices. With a tap of a button I fill my house with lossless quality of music that is playing on astonishingly capable speakers. Those speakers also answer my questions and run automations on my phone which I can create in a very nice and user-friendly interface. I'm currently watching an episode of a TV Series that is playing from my NAS…

My experience is not very different from yours but I do that using multiple vendors, without being tied to a single one.

I did consider this. Having a single vendor is a risk factor. In my case it is mitigated by the fact that everything that is in their cloud is downloaded locally. Then it is backed up using time machine to my Synology and additionally syncthing also duplicates it there as simple files with history enabled. I believe our mitigated most of the risks. If I pull the router plug I'll still have access to my data. If my house burns down - I can download it from their cloud again.
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