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Apple Fails to Block $995M UK App Store Commission Lawsuit

sw1tcher said:
Are you asking for an update to the lawsuit where Alphabet/Google are being sued for £7 billion?

www.businesswire.com

Hausfeld: UK Competition Court Throws Out Google’s Challenge to £7bn Consumer Lawsuit, Paving Way for Full Court Showdown

UK antitrust court piles further pressure on Google by giving "unanimous" approval for search-engine consumer compensation claim to proceed
www.businesswire.com


The lawsuit against Sony for $7.9 billion?



Nintendo paid their fine decades ago

www.nytimes.com

Europe Fines Nintendo $147 Million for Price Fixing (Published 2002)

European Commission fines Nintendo $147 million for colluding with seven European distributors to fix prices on its products; says Nintendo organized cartel that lasted from 1991 to 1998 and allowed company to keep prices for its games and game consoles artificially high in some countries...
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com


Microsoft got sued today by the UK for allegedly overcharging rival cloud firms’ customers



I guess a suit against Apple is going too far? 🤷‍♂️
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If Apple plays it fair and nice with others, it has nothing to worry about. Same for Google, Microsoft, meta and all the other big tech companies.

I really don’t get why people are upset about it. Because Apple is getting billions and billions from the same Apple enthousiasts each quarter.

I’m glad regulators are there looking for a fair playing field for all. Even the Apple enthousiasts benefit from it. It forces Apple to innovate harder in hard- and software instead of being the lazy, money grabbing institution it has become.
 
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sw1tcher said:
You know, before smartphones arrived, people who wanted to create a program to run on a computer did so and offered it however they wanted (over the internet) without having to get permission from the device maker or give the device maker a cut.

I say we go back to that model. And for developers who want to stick with Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store, Microsoft's store, they're all free to do so.
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The first game console (magnavox odyssey) was in 1972 and predates cell phones. And counter to your generalization it was not open. So there is precedent. And of course Nintendo came out in the early 1980s and that was open as well. /s
 
Techwatcher said:
Just leave the UK, ever since Brexit it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to… Well, when it comes to anything lol
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Too true, but the UK is still alive and kicking, and recently many Americans have begun to show up wanting to live here. *cough*

Anyway, why should this money go to developers rather than consumers? We know that developers passed this cost on.
 
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HJM.NL said:
If Apple plays it fair and nice with others, it has nothing to worry about. Same for Google, Microsoft, meta and all the other big tech companies.
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Not playing nice means differentiation according to your definition.
HJM.NL said:
I really don’t get why people are upset about it. Because Apple is getting billions and billions from the same Apple enthousiasts each quarter.
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Exactly why would anybody be upset about how one’s money is being spent?
HJM.NL said:
I’m glad regulators are there looking for a fair playing field for all.
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Me as well.
HJM.NL said:
Even the Apple enthousiasts benefit from it.
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Even if little comes of it.
HJM.NL said:
It forces Apple to innovate harder in hard- and software instead of being the lazy, money grabbing institution it has become.
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Apple clearly has the right to be a lazy, money grabbing institution. And the market has a right to kill the value of the stock. The customers have a right to spend elsewhere. The board has a right to fire Tim Cook.

Hell will freeze over first.
 
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HJM.NL said:
If Apple plays it fair and nice with others, it has nothing to worry about. Same for Google, Microsoft, meta and all the other big tech companies.

I really don’t get why people are upset about it. Because Apple is getting billions and billions from the same Apple enthousiasts each quarter.

I’m glad regulators are there looking for a fair playing field for all. Even the Apple enthousiasts benefit from it. It forces Apple to innovate harder in hard- and software instead of being the lazy, money grabbing institution it has become.
Click to expand...

My personal problem is that the legislators follow the same playbook:

1. Introduce loose legislation.
2. Go after the largest targets by value.
3. Fine the crap out of them.
4. Money magically disappears and does not benefit the customers or the suppliers.
5. GOTO 1.

There are thousands of smaller businesses which are screwing people over on a daily basis which are far more impactful than any app or mobile platform but the focus is there. I mean what about things that cause things from actual social damage to induced debt slavery to terrible consumer outcomes and environmental impacts?

Social media gets a finger wagged at it after large amounts of foreign propaganda which has a tangible state security impact. Where's the billion fine targeting TikTok?

We import millions of tonnes of plastic crap which gets buried after 9 months because it breaks or didn't work in the first place. Where's the billion fine targeting the crap shifters like Amazon?

We have people enslaved by bad debts set up by networks of financial companies constantly trading the debts between them. Where's the billion fine targeting the backers?

But you know, Apple are easy to get money out of.

Feels like a profit making objective, not a responsible regulatory situation.
 
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mikebenton said:
Here's another idea....go off and create your own device. Then create your own software for that device. No fees.
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That’s the thing, there have probably been a gathering of tech knowledgeable folks in the UK (the last 4 people in the region that still know how to use Excel basically… because everyone else left for better jobs elsewhere) over the past years and after no one was able to find batteries for the Gameboy, they reported to the government that there’s literally no way they could come up with anything to compete against.

When asked, “compete against what?” They replied “Anything.”

So, their plan now is to base their tech future on a companies from outside the region.
 
I7guy said:
Not playing nice means differentiation according to your definition.

Exactly why would anybody be upset about how one’s money is being spent?

Me as well.

Even if little comes of it.

Apple clearly has the right to be a lazy, money grabbing institution. And the market has a right to kill the value of the stock. The customers have a right to spend elsewhere. The board has a right to fire Tim Cook.

Hell will freeze over first.
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And market regulatora have the right... sorry are obligated to regulate the market.
 
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Fees for listing apps seems wrong to me, especially on any paid for product platform, be that Apple, Sony, Microsoft, steam, EA etc. It should be free to submit but hosting the downloads is another matter, if you rely on said storefront to host downloads then you should as a developer be charged but this shouldn't be mandatory either. Computers still rely on listing of programs through downloads on the internet and imo is the only legit way to ensure no abuse or gaming from an app store. Case absolutely should go ahead and be regulated on the back of it.
 
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I don't understand. I've been told many times in discussions here that developers are extremely happy with Apple and the App Store.
 
gusping said:
It's a balance. We shouldn't let these large corporates go unchecked, but I also think some of what the EU has done, or is proposing to do, may well be a step too far. You can't win either way, as some group will complain.
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They ARE checked. The fact that large companies are checked by other large companies all of which have a base of operations OUTSIDE the UK is the problem, not that they’re unchecked.
 
HJM.NL said:
I really don’t get why people are upset about it. Because Apple is getting billions and billions from the same Apple enthousiasts each quarter.
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That’s what people misunderstand. The reason why there’s so much grousing on every Apple forum is because Apple doesn’t focus on getting billions out of the same folks over and over. Because, if they did, eventually those folks would be dead and Apple would be getting NO billions. :)

Apple’s better than anyone else on earth at understanding what today’s and the near future’s most valuable customers want. They’re SO good ad it, that while hordes of people are complaining about the cost of non-upgradable RAM in Apple forums, Apple no longer needs money from those folks as their customer base is now younger, has more disposable income and doesn’t care about the cost of non-upgradable RAM. And today’s customers will be pissed with Apple’s focused on even new customers, the cycle repeats!
 
davide_eu said:
And market regulatora have the right... sorry are obligated to regulate the market.
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It’s not like the App Store opened yesterday. If they were obligated to regulate the Apple owned App Store market, where were they when Apple said, “Hey, we’re going to do this App Store thing, that ok?” Apple didn’t slide in under cover of darkness, they had to get the way they do business approved before doing business. Why didn’t regulators… regulate?
 
Unregistered 4U said:
It’s not like the App Store opened yesterday. If they were obligated to regulate the Apple owned App Store market, where were they when Apple said, “Hey, we’re going to do this App Store thing, that ok?” Apple didn’t slide in under cover of darkness, they had to get the way they do business approved before doing business. Why didn’t regulators… regulate?
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Because they regulate when there is an abuse.
 
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davide_eu said:
Because they regulate when there is an abuse.
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Then that abuse existed since day one as the App Store terms haven’t changed significantly. The minor changes they have made have been in favor of developers. SO, again, Apple was charging 30%-15% from the VERY beginning (with the blessing of the UK). Why didn’t the regulators regulate that “abuse”?
 
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I found it insane. Apple is offering a SERVICE with their Store. It is managed and it advertises apps to the customers. They are entitled to ask something in return.
We could speak about 10%-15%-20% or 30% as too much or not, but they are entitled to ask money for the service they are giving.
 
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