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I wonder if Apple is eventually going to have to require additional proof that third parties selling content on the App Store actually have the rights, especially in China (seems to be where the most problems are). Since they review app submissions, is this already part of the process or needs to be added? Perhaps those submitting would need to agree to assume liability if they are found not to be the rights holder. Not being a developer, I don't know if any of this is already in their agreements.

It's not remotely practical to verify that third parties have the rights-- you would need to spend thousands of dollars per app, and even then you couldn't be 100% sure. You could get them to sign a statement assuming liability; this is a pretty standard thing, so undoubtedly it's already being done. The question is, would such a statement be recognized in the bizarro world of Chinese contract "law"?
 
This is nothing but a shakedown for a Chinese mobster for a payout from Apple.
They should be suing the company that stole the copyrighted works from them in the first place and posted them on to the iTunes store under false pretenses, but that is probably a dummy corporation run by the Chinese Government with no chance of ever paying out on a claim. It is funny how we are seeing more and more Chinese companies crying foul of copyright laws now, given China's record of pirating and bootlegging everything from entire Apple stores, music, movies all the way down to lead laced toys and toothpaste and every imaginable product in between.

And as far as this ludicrous statement:
"It's a sensitive period now since Apple is a big multinational company and it is surrounded by controversies on its practices in China."
What controversies?

The ones the Chinese seem intent on stirring up.

Apple is one of the most transparent companies on Earth when it comes to their policies on workers in China, which in itself is a big deal considering that Apple is so secret about everything else. You don't see Nike, Dell, Samsung or any other 'big multinational company' open up like Apple has on their workforce policies.
Lets see this studios for this animation company, its probably entirely run on slave labor working in prison camp conditions.

Well put!

I agree completely. A state owned studio does not need the $530,000. This is peanuts to them. This is all about smearing the Apple name in China which is worth a lot more money to the state owned products and services that compete or will compete against Apple now and in the future. They probably have been unsuccessful in stealing the iOS source code like they did for MS and Intel, to make a competing state forced replacement. So now it is just time to smear...

All above, interesting angles. Definitely, food for thought.
 
At first I thought how Apple could be responsible for this, but regardless they do make a 30% profit out of selling these apps. So if they're selling something that's copyrighted, even unknowingly, then wouldn't they have to pay back that money?

Something tells me that

1. The studio didnt inform Apple of the conflict before filing the suit so they could just pull the app etc

2. The amount they are asking for could be and probably is way over that 30%

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large corporations are already pulling out of China and moving to Mexico where the labor rate has actually, for the first time, fallen below that in China. besides labor costs being substantially lower, shipping costs would be lower, and Apple would benefit greatly from the NAFTA perks

And with the huge cache of rare earth metals found in Japan they may soon no longer be forced to play by China's all production must be in China rules.

Heck if Foxconn opened a factory in Mexico many of the migrant workers allegedly coming to the US to make money to send home could just stay home and make it. Solving part of the immigration issue without Obama looking like an ass or a wimp (depending in your party opinion)

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Every other smartphone manufacturer would be very happy with less competition..

Additionally, scalpers would be over joyed as well, selling Apple mobile devices at huge inflated prices. Something that would give Apple negative press.

If Apple pulled out they would likely go for the nuts and find a way to force China to stop such imports. And or find a way legally stop them at our borders

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As noted by camnchar and Virtualball, not a realistic option. They just have to become much more vigilant in their research, before releasing new products/services, and not only just in China. With their huge cash reserves, they're a sitting duck.

You assume, before any facts are out, that Apple is guilty. You may be surprised in the end to find out that they are not. How about we wait for some facts before either judgement is deemed fact.
 
Ok then!

I'm fine with Apple being sued. They are the first ones to sue everyone & their mother & farmer daughter for the stupidest crap.

No need to fear, Apple will sue you too & take every last cent from you without blinking an eye if you infringe on their copyrights.
 
Eventually Apple will do the math, and stop selling any iPhoes/iPads in China.

I don't think you've done the math at all. The lawsuit is for half a million dollars. Apple makes that much money for roughly every 3000 mobile products they sell. Unless I'm mistaken, Apple sells about 26x that amount of phones in China on a daily basis (they sell 400K phones a day worldwide, and 20% of their sells are in China, right?)

Anyways, this has me thinking. I should write a book, copyright it, then make a free app that distributes my copywritten book but I don't give myself permission to do so. Put it on the App Store. Sue apple for distributing my copywritten work. Totally makes sense. Totally fail proof. It's like printing money.
 
China: Land of the Legal Shakedown

Even though $500K is nothing to Apple, I hope they move their entire manufacturing operations to a less corrupt country. Enough of China already.
 
large corporations are already pulling out of China and moving to Mexico where the labor rate has actually, for the first time, fallen below that in China. besides labor costs being substantially lower, shipping costs would be lower, and Apple would benefit greatly from the NAFTA perks

the party of cheap labor is starting to fizzle out as China has a fast growing middle class that is demanding fair wages, time off, and benefits for their families. look at the Labor rates in China in 2002 vs 2012. their labor rates have jumped the most of any country in the world

it would be a huge undertaking, but i highly suggest Apple pulls out of China ASAP. Apple has the cash to make a new start in Mexico and they wouldn't be starting from scratch as Mexico already has a well formed electronics manufacturing hub (several Blackberry models are made there). i just see China becomes more and more of a nuisance to Apple and other domestic companies looking to manufacture their products at lower costs. eventually the labor rates will have jumped so much and there will be a breaking point where Apple and others are unwilling to put up with the "crap" so to speak. Foxconn has already been a thorn in Apple's back with regards to labor rights, working conditions, etc. Mexico in 2012, believe it or not, has better labor laws and a lower labor rate to boot. it would be better PR for Apple. heck, maybe we can bus US citizens on Mexican work visas to work in the Mexican factory. LOLOL

China is going to hit a wall soon and it is going to be very interesting to see how it pans out. Rising labor costs plus rising fuel costs mean Chinese manufacturing is going to take a big hit. When this puts an end to their trade surplus, it's very possible that it will also end their programs of currency deflation, which could result in a huge poverty spike beyond what they're already struggling with. Would the people then be willing to crawl out from under the Communist party? Should be interesting to see how this all pans out.
 
Blood on the water! Apple has been bitten is China, and Sharks are circling all over!
China will defend China. APPLE gonna bleed all over the place!
Time to move the factory! APPLE got the money!
APPLE it's time to copy Google and go to Hongkong,
Open factories in Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, anywhere! :D
YOU GOT THE MONEY! YOU CAN DO IT! :cool:
 
Apparently, China has a patent, copyright and trademark on piracy, and Apple infringed...
 
Heck if Foxconn opened a factory in Mexico many of the migrant workers allegedly coming to the US to make money to send home could just stay home and make it. Solving part of the immigration issue without Obama looking like an ass or a wimp (depending in your party opinion)


1) There is nothing "alleged" about this. They ARE coming over, and have been for many, many decades, and have completely changed the payscale value of labor as-well-as the available job opportunities for legal citizens. They also receive free help with medical and child education needs.

Every time immigration becomes a hot topic, they pardon everyone for coming across illegally, saying we are a free country and that we do not discriminate on skin color, race, or nationality.

Which is why we have one of the most open and liberal immigration policies of most nations.

This has happened multiple times already. It is not a new issue, but keeps repeating itself over and over again. It's also why politicians in DC ignore this issue in their campaigns.

I have no problem with Mexicans wanting to live here or being my neighbors (many of them are cool people), but I do have a problem when they come here illegally, disrupt many aspects of our whole economy (for which I pay), then get pardoned for their illegal activities because the government can't call it a crime without everyone turning it into a racial issue.

It has nothing to do with race!
There are many Mexican-born American citizens who went through the immigration process correctly and legally who would agree with me!

I'm sorry many Mexicans have such a financially difficult time in their country, but it is not our responsibility to make their lives better. We can choose to help when we want to or are able to (and yes I have!), but we should not be obligated to pay for their expenses while here.

2) Google "Remittance" to learn more about it, but 80% of illegals are sending home more than $14 Billion/year. It is almost Mexico's highest grossing industry.

3) Mexico already has a lot of maquiladoras. They also now do at least some assembly for US car manufacturers. I doubt one more maquiladora, even Foxconn, would make much of a difference.

4) Have you ever even met any of these illegal Mexican migrants? Your comments seem more ignorant or naive than of any particular political slant.
 
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China is going to hit a wall soon and it is going to be very interesting to see how it pans out. Rising labor costs plus rising fuel costs mean Chinese manufacturing is going to take a big hit. When this puts an end to their trade surplus, it's very possible that it will also end their programs of currency deflation, which could result in a huge poverty spike beyond what they're already struggling with. Would the people then be willing to crawl out from under the Communist party? Should be interesting to see how this all pans out.

should be real interesting indeed.

10 years from now i am curious to know where Apple will be making their products
 
Eventually Apple will do the math, and stop selling any iPhoes/iPads in China.

Then the next step is to pull all jobs out of china to the Americas causing a massive layoff at foxconn and the collapse of Foxconn - i guess we had to wait it out as the Chinese Economy grew to fast and two large for its own gov to control. I hear the new Chinese leadership wants to wean china away from exports to building its own infrastructure as the chinese people can not substain the growth without benifits of there own which could eventually lead to a Chinese Civil War. With troubles brewing in Korea which could directly effect samsung if not destroy them literally if something should go wrong for the south Koreans. It is time to leave Asia and rebuild the Americas. Make Apple a true US company again and cut off Asia - I know Apple gets other parts from samsung ect but that could easily move to another company or better yet do everything in house creating millions of jobs in the US.
 
Given that China is Apples second largest market, I'm sure all of these lawsuits add up to a very small percentage of Apples profits from China.

But at some point it could be a fine line between all the lawsuits and profitability.

It would be nice to see Apple pull completely out of Chine for both sales and manufacturing and see how the Chinese government likes loosing the billions in manufacturing revenue and how the people like doing without some of the finest products in their classes.

It sounds like Apple will be transitioning Mac Mini's from Chinese manufacturing to USA manufacturing this year. A small trial balloon perhaps but if it works out I think we'll see a lot more of the same.

There's a lot to be said for US manufactured goods. While many companies off shored products to lower costs and thus make more affordable products they should realize that all that manufacturing money leaves our economy and never comes back, making for a customer base that can't afford as many products.

Personally I'd rather pay more for a product made here that I can choose to buy or not than to pay more in taxes (which I have no choice on) to a government trying to prop up a poor economy.

Think of the billions of dollars Apple spends in China now, staying in our economy, going to wages in our communities, and supporting our tax base.
 
China is projected to be the biggest market for smartphones very soon.

it is but gray market is almost a part of daily life, Apple went in and try to make things legit, now they are getting sued left and right by for copyright of all things? Are you kidding me? They can shift manufacture to another country, close stores in China but guess what, the Chinese will still have ways of obtaining the products, how do you think they got their iPhones before?

There are also now trying to slap Apple around for their return policies, everyones looking for a loop hole to rip Apple off and now they are saying they are using loop holes to try and stop people from obviously abusing the return policies. I'm am not shocked that small companies are trying to sue their way to riches but now that the gov has joined in the fun is a bit disturbing.
 
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