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Dutch Regulator Now Happy With Apple's Rules Surrounding Dating Apps

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Following a months-long saga, the competition regulator in the Netherlands has finally accepted concessions by Apple to allow dating apps in the App Store to use alternative payment methods (via Reuters).

iOS-App-Store-General-Feature-Sqaure-Complement.jpg

On Friday, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) released an update stating that "Apple now complies with the rules" regarding dating apps' ability to let their customers pay in different ways other than Apple's own payment method. The statement continued:
"That is why ACM no longer needs to impose a new order subject to periodic penalty payments. Over the past few months, ACM had collected information from dating-app providers and independent experts before its assessment that Apple complied with the order."
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In December 2021, the ACM announced that Apple must let dating apps accept alternative payment methods on the App Store in the Netherlands. Apple complied with the demand, but it initially required Dutch dating apps to submit a separate app binary to accept alternative payments.

The ACM had remained unsatisfied with the changes, and the regulator fined Apple a total of €50 million between January and March for failing to comply with the order.

Apple dropped its requirement that dating apps compile a separate binary, which the regulator had deemed "unreasonable" and an "unnecessary barrier" for developers of dating apps. Apple also announced further changes to its policies on Friday, but said it does not believe these updates are "in the best interest" of user privacy or data security, and it is continuing to appeal the original ACM order.

"Until recently, customers of dating apps had only been able to pay using the payment method that Apple imposed," the ACM wrote in its latest update. "In ACM's opinion, Apple abused its dominant position with those practices. From now on, dating-app providers are able to let their customers pay in different ways."

Article Link: Dutch Regulator Now Happy With Apple's Rules Surrounding Dating Apps
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/13/dutch-regulator-happy-apple-rules-dating-apps/
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: amartinez1660
Well they are still going to have to pay the other 27% via invoice and now will be on the hook for fraud compliance and chargeback management. The Netherlands needs to regulate those companies and their deceptive behaviors. That industry has always been shady. They want to control cancellations like on websites. Good luck figuring out how to successfully cancel now. Some shady sites will keep charging you after you officially cancel forcing a second call.
 
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genovelle said:
Well they are still going to have to pay the other 27% via invoice and now will be on the hook for fraud compliance and chargeback management. The Netherlands needs to regulate those companies and their deceptive behaviors. That industry has always been shady. They want to control cancellations like on websites. Good luck figuring out how to successfully cancel now. Some shady sites will keep charging you after you officially cancel forcing a second call.
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Exactly. Government Regulators always fail to understand these side bars.
Good luck to the “Dating Dutch.” They will need it. 😏
 
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h0ndaf4n said:
So many of you seem to think to think that these people in government are stupid 🙄
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Maybe not stupid, but I find there tends to be a disparity between identifying the problem you want solved, and figuring how to implement it in a manner which addresses the issue (we see how Apple has been able to dance around the issue for so long) while avoiding potentially harmful ramifications.

Looks like Apple did the right thing by not caving in right way and conceding any more than they absolutely had to. This should serve as a useful template in their upcoming legal battle with the EU.

And to the consumers who decide to not use iTunes? Well, we all reap what we sow.
 
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genovelle said:
Well they are still going to have to pay the other 27% via invoice and now will be on the hook for fraud compliance and chargeback management. The Netherlands needs to regulate those companies and their deceptive behaviors. That industry has always been shady. They want to control cancellations like on websites. Good luck figuring out how to successfully cancel now. Some shady sites will keep charging you after you officially cancel forcing a second call.
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There are Dutch laws that prevent those cancellation issues you mention. If you offer subscribing via a certain way, you need to offer cancellation in the same way (e.g. subscribe online, cancel online).
 
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With payments arranged outside Apple’s control, does that mean they can do easy payments using sexual favors as currency?
 
genovelle said:
These companies just want to bring their true revenue driver to iOS. Cancellation dodging. Apple makes it too easy to cancel. They will quadruple their profits
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This is probably unfortunately true considering that Match Group has been one of the groups stateside fighting for alternative payment systems. They’re definitely masters of the dodgy subscription scheme, with multi month mandatory payment schemes (for Match itself, you simply can’t get a subscription month by month, they’re either three, six, or twelve months, but you pay each month), difficult cancellations (considering that “match.com subscription cancellation” and “match.com subscription refund” are two of the top Google autocomplete suggestions for “match.com subscription” gives you a bit of an insight into what you’re getting into), and they’ve been known flat out to engage in fraud to get you to pay up (they got busted by US courts back in 2019 or early 2020 sending messages from fake profiles to people using Match.com for free, in order to trick them into paying so they could see messages).

This is Match Group, the face of mainstream online dating (only real competition is eHarmony and Bumble). And this is just Match.com, I can only imagine how aggressively monetized Tinder is (and some of their other properties are), and the subtle algorithmic tweaks and dark patterns they employ to convince you to pay for it. I’ve vowed never to give Match Group a single cent more, personally, due to how dodgy they are.

So it really wouldn’t surprise me at all if cancellation dodging is part of the plan. I was downloading apartment apps back in 2019, and I downloaded what turned out to be an exclusively Dutch app. And, before I could realize that, I’d picked the trial subscription option (3 days, followed by a $100+ USD price per month or maybe six month period). The fact that cancellation of Apple subscriptions is so easy and trustworthy was a real life saver. I was able to quickly realize “wait, these are all Dutch listings” and immediately cancel the subscription during the trial phase.
 
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Abazigal said:
Maybe not stupid, but I find there tends to be a disparity between identifying the problem you want solved, and figuring how to implement it in a manner which addresses the issue (we see how Apple has been able to dance around the issue for so long) while avoiding potentially harmful ramifications.

Looks like Apple did the right thing by not caving in right way and conceding any more than they absolutely had to. This should serve as a useful template in their upcoming legal battle with the EU.

And to the consumers who decide to not use iTunes? Well, we all reap what we sow.
Click to expand...
If Apple has won, why are the TechNews outlets unanimous in their verdict that Apple backed down? Apple tried to act smart and got taught a lesson. This will be a consideration when they try similar shenanigans while dealing with the DMA and DSA. They will know that they will have to concede or the fines will not stop and their delaying tactics will prove costly for Apple itself. They're lucky the ACM had only limited this to dating apps because of the intervention of the EU. For Apple, it is a bad template as they will have to pay fines and also concede to implement the regulations that they have tried to circumvent.

www.techzine.eu

Apple backs down in dating app dispute with regulator ACM

Dating apps can now use alternative payment methods on the Dutch App Store. Thereby, Apple gives in to the demands of local market regulator ACM. The ACM
www.techzine.eu www.techzine.eu

www.pcmag.com

Apple Racked Up Over $50M in Fines Before Conceding to Dutch Regulators

But now the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets is content.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com
 
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😀 That makes me happy to know Apple has made the Dutch regulators happy. What a nice thing Apple has done.

So much happy. 😀
 
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