Apple Can't Delay App Store Fee Fight While Waiting on Supreme Court

[burgman]

Every company that sells products (stores, app stores, etc). Make money off of that sale. Somewhere between 10-30% and sometimes even over. Simply becasue if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to pay their employees and the store would go out of buissiness.

Now Apple allows developers to offer a free app on their store. This free app is free to host on their store and free to download. Apple does not make any money off of that download.

Now that App adds it's own store, to for example sell virtual items. Items that directly compete with the items sold on the App Store. I think it's nothing but reasonable that the app pays a fee to offer these sales. Since they got their customers for free.

Waisting your time on this entitled crowd who apparently some were raised and teach their kids that stealing is the goto option in life.

 

[I7guy]

Good. Apple could've done this themselves. But they hate their customers. Thank you Epic and Sweeney for fighting for us.

I definitely wouldn’t break out the champagne yet. There’s a long way to go before Eouc “wins”.

 

[I7guy]

What intellectual property would Apple be giving away? Giving access to or sharing is not giving it away.

I agree. Willingly sharing is not giving anything away, but being forced to provide services for (aka DMA) is giving away apples IP.

It can be very difficult for a developer to completely ignore such a significant part of a market even if they hate or find unfair the terms, fees, etc. they are being asked/required to follow or pay. If Apple's app store market share was much less then it would be different.

That’s a business decision. Not an apple decision, not an anti-trust decision, not a regulators decision It’ s very difficult to do business with Warren Buffet. Should he be sued because of it?

 

[webkit]

I agree. Willingly sharing is not giving anything away, but being forced to provide services for (aka DMA) is giving away apples IP.

Even if a company was required by law to provide a service or access to a service or provide interoperability does not automatically mean they're giving away their IP. This isn't about the DMA anyway.

That’s a business decision. Not an apple decision, not an anti-trust decision, not a regulators decision It’ s very difficult to do business with Warren Buffet. Should he be sued because of it?

It's obviously a business decision but you brushed it off like as long as there is an alternative that's all that matters. As I stated, it can be very difficult for a developer to completely ignore such a significant part of a market even if they hate or find unfair the terms, fees, etc. they are being asked/required to follow or pay. If Apple's app store market share was much less then it would be different.

Your Warren Buffet comparison makes no sense here.

 

[I7guy]

Even if a company was required by law to provide a service or access to a service or provide interoperability does not automatically mean they're giving away their IP. This isn't about the DMA anyway.

Correct it’s about a company being forced to open up their property for competitors to come in and use it for free or some nominal value.

It's obviously a business decision but you brushed it off like as long as there is an alternative that's all that matters.

Correct I brushed it off because an iPhone or Apple product isn’t a life requirement. To develop an iOS app and have Apple host it, isn’t a life requirement. Your posting as if being in the AppStore is a requirement for survival and ergo apples iOS app store should be a public utility.

As I stated, it can be very difficult for a developer to completely ignore such a significant part of a market even if they hate or find unfair the terms, fees, etc. they are being asked/required to follow or pay.

That is not apples problem. It’s a capitalistic issue. Figure out how to make money.

If Apple's app store market share was much less then it would be different.

Hypothetical.

Your Warren Buffet comparison makes no sense here.

We sometimes have to bite the bullet and go for what we want even though business terms are difficult. It’s not up to the government to make doing business easy.

 

[LincolnNE]

That said, it will be interesting to see what the court comes up with for a fee structure. They should have the information about what it would take to make the App Store profitable, and that's really a key factor...Apple has to make enough of a profit to support apps and a store, if they don't the whole thing shuts down.

The court’s fee standard will be based on cost/service of the transaction and not profitability. Apple and Epic will submit briefs, and the judge will refer back to the extensive record to reach a decision.

 

[jgdeschamps]

I hope Stop Killing Games uses these type of court decisions and force Sony to largely abandon their stupid agenda of making you rent -instead of owning- games and media purchased via their store. I know these two (Apple and Epic) have been at each other for quite a long time, but at least these outcomes become precedents that might be of use for cases that deal with abusive business behaviors.
Ultimately, consumers have the last word using their wallet... but many individuals are just oblivious of how abusive many corporations have become.

 

[apple4everOG]

Every company that sells products (stores, app stores, etc). Make money off of that sale. Somewhere between 10-30% and sometimes even over. Simply becasue if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to pay their employees and the store would go out of buissiness.

Now Apple allows developers to offer a free app on their store. This free app is free to host on their store and free to download. Apple does not make any money off of that download.

Now that App adds it's own store, to for example sell virtual items. Items that directly compete with the items sold on the App Store. I think it's nothing but reasonable that the app pays a fee to offer these sales. Since they got their customers for free.

They did not get their customers for free though. They got their own customers. Apple could require no free apps and take a percentage off that, but this whole discussion is ridiculous. Apple makes money by selling the hardware. To sell the hardware they need good software. But they are ruining the software experience because it's all about making money, not about making the best experience. Some companies cannot afford an extra 30% on top of their costs. Apple is not entitled to make money off every sale just because it's on the platform. The Mac is a great example of that.

And again, what happened is that instead of companies like Netflix and Amazon giving them the 30% they couldn't afford and that Apple was not entitled too, they just make the experience worse, because they couldn't even tell their customers where to go.

Apple should care far less about making money and far more about good developer experience and customer experience. Because in the end, that will make them lots of money.

 

[I7guy]

They did not get their customers for free though. They got their own customers. Apple could require no free apps and take a percentage off that, but this whole discussion is ridiculous. Apple makes money by selling the hardware. To sell the hardware they need good software. But they are ruining the software experience because it's all about making money,

Apple absolutely is not ruining the software experience. And yes, they are entitled to make money. And we as consumers if we don’t like apple, it’s management, the cost of their products, etc. are free to buy the competition

not about making the best experience.

Way too subjective. But yeah, they are about a stellar experience and the experience is very good.

Some companies cannot afford an extra 30% on top of their costs.

What? Price your product adequately. Or find a distribution channel that meets your business requirements. Apple is not a public utility and hopefully by the end of this nonsense that will be clear.

Apple is not entitled to make money off every sale just because it's on the platform.

Yes they are.

The Mac is a great example of that.

And again, what happened is that instead of companies like Netflix and Amazon giving them the 30% they couldn't afford and that Apple was not entitled too, they just make the experience worse, because they couldn't even tell their customers where to go.

The experience was always worse here at MR. Customers aren’t stupid. When I signed up for Netflix I went to Netflix.com.

Apple should care far less about making money and far more about good developer experience and customer experience.

Developers should care more about providing a stellar client experience and be thankful they have an almost all too easy way to distribute their products.

Because in the end, that will make them lots of money.

Certain devs are already making boatloads of money because they figured out that by providing a stellar client experience it can lead to more revenue.

 

[apple4everOG]

Apple absolutely is not ruining the software experience. And yes, they are entitled to make money. And we as consumers if we don’t like apple, it’s management, the cost of their products, etc. are free to buy the competition

Apple absolutely is ruining the software experience! Why do I have to go to a website to sign up and change my plan for Netflix? Or by a book from Amazon? Its terrible!

No they are not entitled to make money like this, because there is an easy workaround.

If we consumers don't like it, we can buy the competition yes, or even better, advocate for Apple to stick to their principles over making money and celebrate when Courts do their right thing since Apple refuses too.

Way too subjective. But yeah, they are about a stellar experience and the experience is very good.

Nope, it's very objective. But yeah, they are about a stellar experience and the experience is actually very bad, and nowhere close to good.

What? Price your product adequately. Or find a distribution channel that meets your business requirements. Apple is not a public utility and hopefully by the end of this nonsense that will be clear.

Apparently you have never run a business. So Apple customers then pay 30% more for what other customers are paying. Apple is not a public utility, but they can do way better and hopefully by the end this nonsense about a poor experience and charging more is good for customers will really be clear.

Yes they are.

No they are not.

The experience was always worse here at MR. Customers aren’t stupid. When I signed up for Netflix I went to Netflix.com.

It's not about customers being stupid, it's about treating them right. Having to go to Netflix.com instead of using the app, either to sign up at all, or avoid 30% more costs, it's stupid though, and a very poor experience.

Developers should care more about providing a stellar client experience and be thankful they have an almost all too easy way to distribute their products.

They do, unfortunately Apple does not care about providing a stellar client experience, and Apple are the ones that should be thankful that they have developers who want to use their platform so they can sell more platform devices.

Certain devs are already making boatloads of money because they figured out that by providing a stellar client experience it can lead to more revenue.

Right, but again not all developers can provide that stellar experience and cannot make boatloads of money because Apple interfere and makes its worse, and that's even if they decide to make it at all. But Apple could make even more money then they do now, but doing the right thing and letting that Stellar Experience be possible.

So in the end, Apple clearly is the problem here. They provide a worse experience and/or their customers get charged more. Sad.

 

[I7guy]

Apple absolutely is ruining the software experience! Why do I have to go to a website to sign up and change my plan for Netflix? Or by a book from Amazon? Its terrible!

It’s not terrible and we can disagree on this.

No they are not entitled to make money like this, because there is an easy workaround.

They absolutely are entitled to make legal money even if you don’t like the commission rate.

If we consumers don't like it, we can buy the competition yes, or even better, advocate for Apple to stick to their principles over making money and celebrate when Courts do their right thing since Apple refuses too.

The courts have already done the right thing and gave Apple a pass. This is a sticking point which will be resolved in about 2 months.

Nope, it's very objective. But yeah, they are about a stellar experience and the experience is actually very bad, and nowhere close to good.

The experience is very good, even if you don’t likel it for reasons of your own.

Apparently you have never run a business. So Apple customers then pay 30% more for what other customers are paying. Apple is not a public utility, but they can do way better and hopefully by the end this nonsense about a poor experience and charging more is good for customers will really be clear.

Insults because you disagree? Software distribution historically has been tough and expensive. I don’t know if you have ever tried to distribute commercial software through the old mega-software stores, but apple makes it plain and simple for a small cut.

If a dev doesn’t like it there is the competition.

No they are not.

Yes they are.

It's not about customers being stupid, it's about treating them right. Having to go to Netflix.com instead of using the app, either to sign up at all, or avoid 30% more costs, it's stupid though, and a very poor experience.

Apple treats their customers right. Maybe this is a sticking point with you, others don’t seem to have. You’re entitled to your opinion.

They do, unfortunately Apple does not care about providing a stellar client experience, and Apple are the ones that should be thankful that they have developers who want to use their platform so they can sell more platform devices.

I disagree. At this point its just one opinion vs another opinion.

Right, but again not all developers can provide that stellar experience and cannot make boatloads of money because Apple interfere and makes its worse,

Categorically objectively false and hyperbolic.

and that's even if they decide to make it at all. But Apple could make even more money then they do now, but doing the right thing and letting that Stellar Experience be possible.

Apples does the right thing. The experience is very seamless, but devs have to step up as well.

So in the end, Apple clearly is the problem here. They provide a worse experience and/or their customers get charged more. Sad.

So in the end, your opinion is just that. Your opinion. Apple service revenues do not seem to be suffering in the least. That should be a clue people are buying and subjectively the experience is no where near where you claim it is.

 

[platinumaqua]

If Apple's app store market share was much less then it would be different.

Exactly. No need to even look far for this. Look at how sparse the Mac App Store is or even the number of Windows applications/games that has no Mac counterpart.

 

[SanderEvers]

They did not get their customers for free though. They got their own customers. Apple could require no free apps and take a percentage off that, but this whole discussion is ridiculous. Apple makes money by selling the hardware.

Apple makes more money selling software than hardware. Apple is a software company. And yes, they do get their customers for free. It's free to host an app on the App store. You only pay $99/year for Apple to review it and get a code signing certificate. Which is literally dirt cheap compared to elsewhere. (Normal prices between $300-$1000 per year)

To sell the hardware they need good software. But they are ruining the software experience because it's all about making money, not about making the best experience. Some companies cannot afford an extra 30% on top of their costs. Apple is not entitled to make money off every sale just because it's on the platform. The Mac is a great example of that.

Sure, but they are entitled to make money off of products they list in their stores. If you don't want to use Apple's App Stor you can always choose not to publish there. In the EU this is even possible on an iPhone.

And again, what happened is that instead of companies like Netflix and Amazon giving them the 30% they couldn't afford and that Apple was not entitled too, they just make the experience worse, because they couldn't even tell their customers where to go.

Netflix and Amazon are two wealthy companies they can EASILY eat the 30% cut Apple asks.

Apple should care far less about making money and far more about good developer experience and customer experience. Because in the end, that will make them lots of money.

How wil it make them money if they give it away for free? I REALLY don't get the hate some people have against companies making money. You know what a company is that doesn't make money? Yeah, that's not a company anymore!

 

[burgman]

If the Apple experience is so awful, why decide to stay locked in the walled garden? Blink twice if you’re being held hostage. 🤨

 

[eifelbube]

F' epic and Tim the Turd

Tim Cook? Finally a balanced view …

 

[Brother Cavil]

They did not get their customers for free though. They got their own customers. Apple could require no free apps and take a percentage off that, but this whole discussion is ridiculous. Apple makes money by selling the hardware. To sell the hardware they need good software. But they are ruining the software experience because it's all about making money, not about making the best experience. Some companies cannot afford an extra 30% on top of their costs. Apple is not entitled to make money off every sale just because it's on the platform. The Mac is a great example of that.

And again, what happened is that instead of companies like Netflix and Amazon giving them the 30% they couldn't afford and that Apple was not entitled too, they just make the experience worse, because they couldn't even tell their customers where to go.

Apple should care far less about making money and far more about good developer experience and customer experience. Because in the end, that will make them lots of money.

I agree with everything you wrote, but I don't have a problem with Apple charging a fee, although I think it's far too high given today's market realities. All brick and mortar stores mark up the products they sell for obvious reasons. This was the case with boxed software since day one. So the store fee in and of itself isn't a problem in my mind.

The problems are control and censorship. Apple has decided that the only way to get software for iOS is through its store, thus eliminating all competition. Back in the day, if I didn't like the price of software at Compuserve, I could go to Fry's.

The bigger issue, though, in my mind is censorship. We've already seen this play out multiple times in China where Apple, rather than risk its standing with the government, removes thousands of apps from the store at the government's command. And, of course, Apple excuses this behavior by claiming to follow the law in the territory in which it operates and its sycophants parrot the line in defense of OBVIOUS CENSORSHIP.

There's no evidence that a single App Store makes the platform safer. Scam apps are routinely removed from the App Store, some of which have been available for YEARS. There's currently no way that Apple can adequately assess the functionality of every app in the store.

The platform safety argument is total and utter nonsense to justify Apple's endless bleeding of its customers. And, obviously, it's not just Apple doing this. This is the new normal and we largely have Apple to thank for all of this en****ification and everything being a subscription now. It was Apple who made the subscription business model viable on a mass scale and now everyone is doing it. Everything is now a "service" and everywhere we look someone is trying to nickel and dime us. Thanks Apple! Anti-competition and pro censorship! What a great legacy!

 

[Brother Cavil]

Netflix and Amazon are two wealthy companies they can EASILY eat the 30% cut Apple asks.

Lol. Tell me you know nothing about business without telling me you know nothing about business! 🤯

 

[apple4everOG]

It’s not terrible and we can disagree on this.

It is terrible and we cannot disagree on this, because it's objectively true.

They absolutely are entitled to make legal money even if you don’t like the commission rate.

No they are not.

The courts have already done the right thing and gave Apple a pass. This is a sticking point which will be resolved in about 2 months.

No giving them a pass is the wrong thing. Ensuring they don't get money they are not entitled to and making the user experience correct is the right thing. But yes, it will be resolved and the courts will ensure Apple no longer interferes.

The experience is very good, even if you don’t likel it for reasons of your own.

No the experience is very bad, it has nothing to do with reasons of my own, but actually objective reasons.

Insults because you disagree? Software distribution historically has been tough and expensive. I don’t know if you have ever tried to distribute commercial software through the old mega-software stores, but apple makes it plain and simple for a small cut.

There is no insults there (no more than you have done of course). Software distribution has been easy since the rise of the internet. Yes I run a software company on the side - I have for nearly 20 years. Apple's experience is worse. It's not plain and simple when they take a cut and force companies to not even mention their website.

If a dev doesn’t like it there is the competition.

Yes and there is calling out Apple for bad behavior online, as well as using the Courts to fix the issue.

Yes they are.

No they are not.

Apple treats their customers right. Maybe this is a sticking point with you, others don’t seem to have. You’re entitled to your opinion.

No they do not. Others absolutely have this opinion, it's not just me. Just read anything people right. I am entitled to my opinion and it's clear my opinion is objectively correct, and yours is objectively incorrect. But you are entitled to be objectively incorrect.

I disagree. At this point its just one opinion vs another opinion.

Nope, there is objectively fact and I have it on my side.

Categorically objectively false and hyperbolic.

Categorically objectively true and accurate. Sorry you don't like that.

Apples does the right thing. The experience is very seamless, but devs have to step up as well.

No they don't. We talked about this. Forcing businesses to pay for linking to a website, or not even being able to mention the website in their app, is not the right thing.

So in the end, your opinion is just that. Your opinion. Apple service revenues do not seem to be suffering in the least. That should be a clue people are buying and subjectively the experience is no where near where you claim it is.

Nope, in the end, it's not an opinion, it's a fact. Just because they are not suffering doesn't mean they are doing the right thing. Reading what I and customers and developers write should be a clue that objectively and subjectively the experience is exactly where I said it is.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Apple makes more money selling software than hardware. Apple is a software company.

Not remotely true! Software has much higher profit margins, but in terms of revenue, hardware eclipses software multiple times over.

 

[apple4everOG]

Apple makes more money selling software than hardware. Apple is a software company. And yes, they do get their customers for free. It's free to host an app on the App store. You only pay $99/year for Apple to review it and get a code signing certificate. Which is literally dirt cheap compared to elsewhere. (Normal prices between $300-$1000 per year)

No Apple is a hardware company. They make 50% of their revenue just from the iPhone, and when you add in Mac and iPad it's 65%. It's actually cheaper sell direct on the Mac than it is on the Mac App Store, so I have no idea where you are getting your numbers from.

Sure, but they are entitled to make money off of products they list in their stores. If you don't want to use Apple's App Stor you can always choose not to publish there. In the EU this is even possible on an iPhone.

Yes but they are not entitled to make money on websites just because there is an App in the Store. Saying you can choose not to publish is ignoring the customer experience, where either the app is not listed (and so don't get to experience great apps) or the company doesn't use IAP and you have to go search the web for their site and pay there (which is objectively a terrible experience).

Netflix and Amazon are two wealthy companies they can EASILY eat the 30% cut Apple asks.

No they cannot. That's why neither offer IAP for their wares.

How wil it make them money if they give it away for free? I REALLY don't get the hate some people have against companies making money. You know what a company is that doesn't make money? Yeah, that's not a company anymore!

I don't hate against companies make money, I hate against companies making money by making the customer experience MUCH worse - which is exactly what Apple did. Apple has plenty of ways to make this better and still make money - lower IAP rates (if IAP is that good, then a good price will let people use it no problem) or requiring apps cost money if they want to use non IAP things (so Apple gets the money and its a great experience for the user). Instead the chose the option that made them the money money (or so they thought) and also made the experience MUCH MUCH worse.

 

[apple4everOG]

I agree with everything you wrote, but I don't have a problem with Apple charging a fee, although I think it's far too high given today's market realities. All brick and mortar stores mark up the products they sell for obvious reasons. This was the case with boxed software since day one. So the store fee in and of itself isn't a problem in my mind.

The problems are control and censorship. Apple has decided that the only way to get software for iOS is through its store, thus eliminating all competition. Back in the day, if I didn't like the price of software at Compuserve, I could go to Fry's.

The bigger issue, though, in my mind is censorship. We've already seen this play out multiple times in China where Apple, rather than risk its standing with the government, removes thousands of apps from the store at the government's command. And, of course, Apple excuses this behavior by claiming to follow the law in the territory in which it operates and its sycophants parrot the line in defense of OBVIOUS CENSORSHIP.

There's no evidence that a single App Store makes the platform safer. Scam apps are routinely removed from the App Store, some of which have been available for YEARS. There's currently no way that Apple can adequately assess the functionality of every app in the store.

The platform safety argument is total and utter nonsense to justify Apple's endless bleeding of its customers. And, obviously, it's not just Apple doing this. This is the new normal and we largely have Apple to thank for all of this en****ification and everything being a subscription now. It was Apple who made the subscription business model viable on a mass scale and now everyone is doing it. Everything is now a "service" and everywhere we look someone is trying to nickel and dime us. Thanks Apple! Anti-competition and pro censorship! What a great legacy!

I also agree with everything you say as well.

Except, while I have a bit of a problem charging a fee to linking to a website, if they made it reasonable (say 5%), that objection would be small and I could live with the compromise, especially because companies would bite the bullet and would make the experience great.

 

[Brother Cavil]

I also agree with everything you say as well.

Except, while I have a bit of a problem charging a fee to linking to a website, if they made it reasonable (say 5%), that objection would be small and I could live with the compromise, especially because companies would bite the bullet and would make the experience great.

Apple's App Store policies have completely turned me off from buying software. The whole experience sucks. For streaming media services, I just sign up directly with the service. I used to use an Apple TV, but it died a few months ago and I've been using my TV's built-in apps since then and they're 95% as good as the Apple TV experience. So no need to buy another one of those overpriced boxes.

The constant nickel and diming from Apple is gross. It may not be illegal, but it's gross and has really turned me off as a customer. When I first started out as an Apple customer in the 80s, I LOVED Apple. I moved to NeXT when Jobs left and returned to Apple when he returned. But ever since the App Store, the vibe has shifted. The software quality has been slipping for years and instead of focusing on improving the user experience, today's Apple seems more concerned with charging another fee.

 

[I7guy]

It is terrible and we cannot disagree on this, because it's objectively true.


No they are not.


No giving them a pass is the wrong thing. Ensuring they don't get money they are not entitled to and making the user experience correct is the right thing. But yes, it will be resolved and the courts will ensure Apple no longer interferes.


No the experience is very bad, it has nothing to do with reasons of my own, but actually objective reasons.


There is no insults there (no more than you have done of course). Software distribution has been easy since the rise of the internet. Yes I run a software company on the side - I have for nearly 20 years. Apple's experience is worse. It's not plain and simple when they take a cut and force companies to not even mention their website.


Yes and there is calling out Apple for bad behavior online, as well as using the Courts to fix the issue.

No they are not.


No they do not. Others absolutely have this opinion, it's not just me. Just read anything people right. I am entitled to my opinion and it's clear my opinion is objectively correct, and yours is objectively incorrect. But you are entitled to be objectively incorrect.


Nope, there is objectively fact and I have it on my side.


Categorically objectively true and accurate. Sorry you don't like that.


No they don't. We talked about this. Forcing businesses to pay for linking to a website, or not even being able to mention the website in their app, is not the right thing.


Nope, in the end, it's not an opinion, it's a fact. Just because they are not suffering doesn't mean they are doing the right thing. Reading what I and customers and developers write should be a clue that objectively and subjectively the experience is exactly where I said it is.

Well objectively imo you are incorrect on many points and subjectively you are incorrect also. You’re citing opinions as “facts”.

You are welcome to your opinion but the recent earnings calls don’t go very far to proving your mistaken points.

As for the thread topic I hope Apple prevails, but we will see in a matter of time.

 

[I7guy]

Apple's App Store policies have completely turned me off from buying software.

Why is that. How does the app store policies turn you off?

The whole experience sucks.

No it doesn’t imo.

For streaming media services, I just sign up directly with the service. I used to use an Apple TV, but it died a few months ago and I've been using my TV's built-in apps since then and they're 95% as good as the Apple TV experience. So no need to buy another one of those overpriced boxes.

I just bought an Apple TV. At least it doesn’t track you like many tvs these days.

The constant nickel and diming from Apple is gross. It may not be illegal, but it's gross and has really turned me off as a customer. When I first started out as an Apple customer in the 80s, I LOVED Apple. I moved to NeXT when Jobs left and returned to Apple when he returned. But ever since the App Store, the vibe has shifted. The software quality has been slipping for years and instead of focusing on improving the user experience, today's Apple seems more concerned with charging another fee.

Yeah. Everybody has to do what they need to do.

 

[apple4everOG]

Well objectively imo you are incorrect on many points and subjectively you are incorrect also. You’re citing opinions as “facts”.

You are welcome to your opinion but the recent earnings calls don’t go very far to proving your mistaken points.

As for the thread topic I hope Apple prevails, but we will see in a matter of time.

Sorry but I am objectively correct on my points and also on the subjective ones. I'm not citing opinions as facts, I'm citing facts as facts.

The earning calls prove nothing about my correct points.

I understand you hope Apple is able to continue to make the experience worse, but I hope they do not, and I believe they will not, especially in the long term. Plenty of countries are now getting involved. Apple could do the right thing and avoid it, or they can continue to stomp their feet and be forced to do something they really don't like.