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Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

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Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#21

Post by r3trohack3r »

darkerside wrote: post #17
bubblethink wrote: post #12

Is 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…

A publishing fee would also be regressive compared to the payment tax. Right now, people don't pay until they are successful, at which point they may pay a LOT. But it keeps the app marketplace much more of a free marketplace.

It’s not exactly a publishing fee, but today you have to pay Apple $99/year to distribute software into Apple’s ecosystem; otherwise they’ll hide your application behind a non-obvious ctrl+click+run flow. To my knowledge, this fee is collected regardless of your distribution channel.

I wouldn’t call $99/year “not paying.”

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#22

Post by lionhead »

bubblethink wrote: post #12

Is 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…

Give it a few days then check this link: https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/recentlyLawList.do

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#23

Post by illuminated »

Hamuko wrote: post #10
illuminated wrote: post #8

I wonder if this would lead to an increased number of company formations in S. Korea. My first impulsive reaction was to search about their local formation and tax laws.

I imagine that this would only apply to users in South Korea.

The text mentions developers, not just users... I assume (by understanding the published text) they'd (Korean officials) want to target any users of apps published by Korean developers, no matter the location.

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#24

Post by krageon »

ptspts wrote: post #5

A possible outcome of this regulation: all Android and iOS payments get disabled in South Korea, paid apps become unavailable.

Any action may have a hundred different potential results. Simply calling out one of them (devoid of any context, I might add) is not useful conversation.

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#25

Post by stale2002 »

So, everything else that has happened up to now, could be described as minor losses, for Apple and Google.

This is not such a case though. This is a major loss for them.

For all the hacker new commenters, who have been commenting on this topic, for the year that the drama has been going on, and were convinced that Apple and Google were going to win this fight.... well you need to re-evaluate what made you think that.

Because, the writing has been on the wall, for quite a while now, for their iron grip on their app store payments.

If it wasn't going to be the epic lawsuit, it was going to be a different lawsuit in the US, or another country. Or if all that didn't work, it was going to be laws such as this, that blow the doors wide open, and spell doom for these closed systems.

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#27

Post by weddpros »

Dah00n wrote: post #13

When the EU does the same things will turn for real.

and they can, because there's not a single EU company with an app store to harm. App stores are designed for profit, not simply for our convenience.

Imagine a government forcing AirBnb to let people pay hand to hand to the owner of the apartment. It's the same issue, right?

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#28

Post by q-rews »

stale2002 wrote: post #25

So, everything else that has happened up to now, could be described as minor losses, for Apple and Google. This is not such a case though. This is a major loss for them. For all the hacker new commenters, who have been commenting on this topic, for the year that the drama has been going on, and were convinced that Apple and Google were going to win this fight.... well you need to re-evaluate what made you think that.…

I agree but I'm curious about how it will play out in practice. Apple charges $99/year just to publish apps on the store and then takes 30% of the payments. If forced, will they leave just the $99 payment or will they change it to, say, "pay more if you want your payment processor" or "you can use your payment processor but you still owe us 15%"?

Many platforms require fees to sell on them. eBay for example has asked for a percentage for years, even if it did not handle payments at all.

Are Apple and Google going to be forced to offer the service (the App Store) for free because of their duopoly?

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#29

Post by simondotau »

bubblethink wrote: post #12

Is 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…

According to the FSF, the distribution of a binary computer program which substantially relies upon GPL libraries is considered a derivative work and would require you to abide by the terms of the GPL license.

Similarly, an iOS app which substantially relies upon (and must be compiled with) Apple's libraries in order to work is subject to whatever the terms Apple includes in their software license. Of course Apple isn't requiring code to be open source like the GPL. Apple could choose whatever terms they want. It would be perfectly within Apple's right to require a revenue share for use of those libraries—say, the Metal graphics APIs—just as Epic Games does for the use of Unreal Engine libraries.

Therefore it's entirely reasonable to imagine that if third party payment gateways are permitted, Apple could still organise things so that they are legally entitled to a percentage cut of app sales. Again, just like Unreal Engine.

Re: Apple and Google must allow other in-app payment systems, Korean law declares

#30

Post by speg »

I really hope they implement this somehow that allows the same processes to exist.

e.g., manage all subscriptions from one location, cancel subscriptions without losing time remaining (hello Creative Cloud!), and the entire parental control process.

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