I, for once, love living in the EU
"for one" or "for once"?
I think they meant once. Besides digital lollipops what else is going so great in EU? jobs? economic growth? housing? immigration?
Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
131–140 of 653 posts
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#132Tim Cook managed to be cool calm and diplomatic when dealing with Trump and his trade war with China. Why is Tim Cook suddenly acting irrational and child-like when dealing with EU? This behaviour we're seeing from Apple recently is happening in front on investors and everyone else's eyes because Tim Cook is personally green-lighting this behaviour. What's going on inside Apple? Is it because none of their hardware i…
Because Apple's share price growth now depends on services, not cool hardware.
The App Store monopoly generates billions in ad revenue from app vendors advertising their apps on search results. That will take a huge hit if there's an alternate app store they can potentially pay a lot less to gain exposure.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#133From DF a few days ago[0] : > The termination of Epic Games Sweden AB’s Apple developer account was communicated in a letter from Mark Perry, a lawyer representing Apple, to Epic’s lawyers: > Mr. Sweeney’s response to that request was wholly insufficient and not credible. It boiled down to an unsupported “trust us.” History shows, however, that Epic is verifiably untrustworthy, hence the request for meaningful commit…
I would posit that Apple is the "untrustworthy" and unhinged party here.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#134What's the catch? (Given they tried to destroy PWAs in their last tantrum.)
I never give any Big Tech with nation-state influence the benefit of the doubt. This is a legal/PR stress test. They failed this one, but they won't fail others.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
No catch, just the threat of "and if you keep trying to violate EU law, we're going to keep levying billion dollar fines on you until you either obey the law, or you cease all operations in Europe. Which will get you sued some more because you're still on the hook for support after you leave"
> “Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA policies. As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program.” It's more like the EC told both sides to get some adults in the room and work it out. Since they clearly didn't force Apple to change any rules and Epic agreed to follow Apple's rules…
The EC heavily hinted at swift enforcement and it's most likely that Apple retreated after that.
So technically they "worked it out" but only after a "parent" threatened to send them to bed without dinner.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#136This is just so weird to watch. Apple is literally throwing a tantrum on a continent-wide stage. Like, it's one attempt at escalation after another, and they keep losing (either their legal fights, or their nerve) and having to reverse course. Like, there's no strategy at all here? Just keep swinging and hope you land a blow that breaks through the armor? This is how my 15 year old plays VR games.
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> where they’re the judge, jury, and executioner
Yes, typically democratically elected governments include judges, juries, and executioners. They'd be pretty ineffectual otherwise.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#137I’m so tired of this Apple tax, I think nobody would be this annoyed if Apple were saying 10% or something around that. 30% is more than most companies pay in tax on profits and this is a tax on revenue. I don’t think abusing your market position like some kind of protection racket should be allowed and if you don’t like it we’ll delete your App is quite frankly just as bad as the mafia smashing in shop windows. I do…
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If you say this then you’ll surely also be fine to just not use other app stores if you don’t want them. Right? Just don’t use them!
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least in the U.S. business owners have the right to refuse service or turn away a customer to protect their patrons and business. That's the issue with all these providers. Every couple of weeks there's a story from someone whose Google account was suddenly closed with no way to access their emails or pictures again.
It is a double-edged sword. A right to refuse service is great when you have an unruly patron in a pub or restaurant that is ruining the evening for everybody else. But on the other side it is really easy for a company like Google to just kill your smaller company because they decided they do not want to allow you access to an account anymore.
One of the more enjoyable aspects of this whole issue is watching people with a vested political interest in Apple's fundamental point of view criticize their dealings with Epic.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#139> And the minimal assurances in Mr. Sweeney’s curt response were swiftly undercut by a litany of public attacks on Apple’s policies, compliance plan, and business model. So according to Apple [edit] one isn't allowed to say bad things about a company publicly or they are allowed to ban your account? Interesting view.
At least in the U.S. business owners have the right to refuse service or turn away a customer to protect their patrons and business. That's the issue with all these providers. Every couple of weeks there's a story from someone whose Google account was suddenly closed with no way to access their emails or pictures again.
Rules should be different if you're running a platform. A platform is essentially a market within the free market, so special regulative care is required.
Re: Epic says Apple will reinstate developer account
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, and that's why monopolies must die, in practice desolved by governments. Once you buy a smartphone today you and everybody who wants to do further business with you are at the mercy of a monopolist. For Apple 100%, for Google only 98% because you could side-load. But not a secure and practical solution today.
I don't think monopoly is the right word here.
I think monopoly is the right word because their really are two markets.
A customer is only looking for either iOS or Android apps, and isn't going to choose an Android app if they have an iPhone, or vice versa (IOW, iOS apps don't compete with Android apps).
Imagine only one company sold diesel fuel, and only one sold gasoline. Wouldn't you say they each had a monopoly?