Very good.
South Korea is maybe less corrupt than most EU countries after all...
Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
131–140 of 627 posts
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
No one mandates to support AppStore or Google Play in first place. That's something you do if you want to reach the users of that service.
Companies want to reach the users of the devices. Apple and Google effectively prevent you from doing that without being in their stores. The fact that "technically" you can install apps on android and "technically" users can get an apple dev certificate / or sometimes jailbreak their device are nothing more than a single atom layer thick fig leaf. These two companies effectively have a duopoly on the mobile phone ma…
No body is preventing me from doing anything, please stop speaking for me.
Please read carefully: I do have Apps in the AppStore, I am happy with the business relationship with Apple and I am not looking forward to be forced into establishing new business relationships to reach the exact same user base.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think we can all agree that transfer pricing and the Double Irish Dutch sandwich were not intended to be used in the way they have been by modern multinationals.
What is stopping the governments from changing the laws to make it illegal? I do not understand the concept of expecting an entity to pay taxes they are not liable for paying.
The issue is that the governments offering tax evasion to corporations are smaller countries that use their evasion schemes as a competitive advantage against larger countries.
The incentive for a big country like the US is to make these companies pay their domestically accrued taxes, but the incentive for a small country like Ireland is to attract these companies to come open offices and do business locally at all.
These companies have tricks to avoid paying taxes, such as creating a parent company in Ireland that owns all of the intellectual property, then making the actual Apple or Google in the USA rent the intellectual property from that Irish parent for the cost of all of their revenue. Thus to the US company, they paid 100% of their revenue as the cost of doing business and have 0 tax. Then to the Irish company, they can essentially launder this revenue into being almost completely tax-free.
For the record, the "Double Dutch Irish" has been closed, but there will always be another Caribbean country or looked-over European country willing to offer major benefits to a multinational in exchange for an office and some local hires. After all, why should a small country care if a multinational isn't paying taxes to another country far away?
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apologies if I wasn't clear. I'm talking about the relationship between Apple and developers who are building applications using Apple's proprietary software libraries. I completely agree that consumers should have very wide rights to the device they purchased.
Should I pay Apple for the right to build a Mac app, or Windows for using their desktop apis? Maybe I should have to pay mozilla and google every time someone visiting my website and I use a piece of javascript that executes in their browsers?
Historically, people had to buy developer tools like compilers and assemblers for hundreds if not thousands of dollars either directly from the company or through retail channels if they wanted access to the inner workings of their computer. Apple included. So the pay-to-build model isn't new. As far as what "should" happen is concerned, that'll be a matter of debate and contract law if/when Apple changes its terms and if/when you agree to them.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#135Great news! Every country should do the same! and each OS should also allow external app stores.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your app might only be targeted at a single country or a single market with "easy" taxation rules across borders like the EU. Companies do that all the time and if they see the value of being available globally by paying apple 30% that's fine as well. However right now we don't know whether such a service is in fact worth 30% percent because Google and Apple effectively prevent a competitor from offering lower prices
Obviously everyone can do whatever they like, I am pointing out the burden this puts on smaller developers. Suddenly, creating and distributing apps can get prohibitive for smaller developers.
> Suddenly, creating and distributing apps can get prohibitive for smaller developers.
That's not true, because the law does not prohibit developers from using Apple's or Google's current payment systems. It enables more payment processing options (with lower fees) without removing existing ones. Developers can also choose different payment processors for different regions.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you want your product to be sold in Walmart No one is forcing you to go through Walmart. The problem with IOS is that you are forced to go through Apple. A user cannot pay, download and install the app directly from a developers website.
Nobody is forcing you to sell to iOS, though.
We can go up the whole chain and in the end the root platform are nations. If you want access to citizens in a country you got to go through that nations laws, and nobody is forcing apple to sell iOS in Korea.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#138Is there a better source and the text of the law ? Payment systems are a proxy for the fee since there isn't an explicit publishing fee. It would be quite straightforward for both Apple and Google to charge a publishing fee, which may end up close to the current rent. The larger issue is that there aren't alternative app stores. Apple doesn't allow them at all, and Google severely restricts them at the technical and…
> there isn't an explicit publishing fee
I remember paying $25 or so to open a google play developer account. For Apple, you pay $99 yearly.
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
To the people down-voting this, I realise that my post espouses a controversial opinion for Hacker News. But could you please explain what you disagree with?
> To the people down-voting this, I realise that my post espouses a controversial opinion for Hacker News. But could you please explain what you disagree with? The issue is not that your argument is controversial. It's that it falls flat because it's based on an incorrect assumption. > Apple could choose whatever terms they want. It would be perfectly within Apple's right to require a revenue share for use of those l…
My apologies, when I said "whatever terms they want" I was being somewhat hyperbolic, even if I do think the spirit of the sentence is clear when read in context. Obviously terms of any such license cannot violate law.
Are you suggesting that Apple charging developers a percentage-based license fee for use of their work is unlawful anywhere, under any law current or proposed?
Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares
#140Awesome news, but let's wait and see how this will turn out.