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Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

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Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#161

Man, I really need to get off Gmail to reduce exposure to something like this, but there are sooooo many accounts to update.

My concern is the hundreds of GB of photos I have saved with Google and Apple. I assume one day I will wake up and find I've lost access to them with no recourse, which means backing them up on a large hard drive is my only real option, exactly like 2010.

There are other options. You can use something like rclone to make multiple copies across cloud storage providers. You could also rent some cheap cloud storage like Backblaze B2 and use a backup software like restic.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#162
post #156

Have your lawyer write a letter. As in, a real legal demand with a complaint attached that is addressed to their counsel and includes estimates of monetary damages and alludes (not threatens) to the specific jurisdiction and court it would be submitted to for adjudication. Send copies of this letter, by registered/certified mail, to several contacts. They will have to respond to this and these responses will be expen…

This is the correct answer to the situation.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#163
post #102

If you are a business in EU you can request mediation ( https://support.google.com/legal/answer/9792937#zippy=%2Creq... ). In some cases filling an appeal might work. We usually get only "Google canceled account" part of the story, but no follow up how it ended. Recently was a similar case with Simple Keyboard app, where developer got account terminated, but it was re-instated after few weeks: https://github.com/rkkr…

Even if recovered, 3 weeks of a suspended account can do a lot of damage.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#164

I still think some congress person needs to pass a consumer rights bill that forces companies like this to disclose the exact reason and data relating the account termination. The excuse of security practices should not come before consumer rights. Frankly, we would ALL also be safer if the decision had to be made based on conduct on that specific service and could not include anything outside that service. There is…

Never going to happen for the same reason companies don't tell you why your job application was rejected because it opens them up to unnecessary liability.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#165

Unfortunately, anytime you depend on a third party whether it be Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc., this is the exact risk you take. Don’t feed the dragon.

What's the alternative? Google essentially has a monopoly on distributing Android apps.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are slowly getting us there, even though Apple fights tooth and nail at every step of the way.

I attended an event that had mobile food ordering and they actually promoted "No need to download an app. Just order online at food.example" and you got a nice mobile optimized web site.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#166

Not saying Google is in the right here by any means, but I'm a bit suspicious of these complaints where the party curiously omits the details of why they were banned, the nature of their previous earnings, etc.

> curiously omits the details of why they were banned That's a difficult thing to accomplish when Google has not provided them the details of why they were banned.

Maybe not, but it stretches credulity that they have absolutely no idea, not even a guess, as to the cause. The ban letter says they previously received other notices. Where are they? And what steps, if any, did they take to resolve then? They don't even describe their app, which ordinarily would seen like the first thing to do to establish the injustice of the affair. "My app just makes generative cat photos. What's ban-worthy about that?"

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#167
post #156

Have your lawyer write a letter. As in, a real legal demand with a complaint attached that is addressed to their counsel and includes estimates of monetary damages and alludes (not threatens) to the specific jurisdiction and court it would be submitted to for adjudication. Send copies of this letter, by registered/certified mail, to several contacts. They will have to respond to this and these responses will be expen…

> They will have to respond to this

Why? If they think they have the right to terminate your account, and you have no standing, why would you expect them not to ignore your lawyer in the very same way they ignore you?

Taking this to court might get their attention, but you also have to show grounds for why you get to override their decision. IANAL, but I don't see why Google isn't allowed to just say "nope, you're outta here" to anyone it damned well wants. Sucks, but it's their reputation to ruin.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#169
post #22

At this point competition is one of the great solution to this problem.

I like the big picture aspect of this. “Have a fair and competitive marketplace” could be a standard daily greeting to people we wish well.

Re: Google cancels Google Play publisher account and ends family’s source of income

#170
post #164

I still think some congress person needs to pass a consumer rights bill that forces companies like this to disclose the exact reason and data relating the account termination. The excuse of security practices should not come before consumer rights. Frankly, we would ALL also be safer if the decision had to be made based on conduct on that specific service and could not include anything outside that service. There is…

Never going to happen for the same reason companies don't tell you why your job application was rejected because it opens them up to unnecessary liability.

Crazy thing about a bill is that if it passes, then it will happen, just like the parent is suggesting should happen.
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