Meta, Microsoft, X and Match Join Epic Games in Protesting Fees for Non-App Store Purchase Links

[bcortens]

Legally, licensing IP doesn't have to be reasonable, fair and uniform, unless talking about FRAND patents.
Apple can discriminate pretty widely and they do.

In the EU as a gatekeeper they have expressed a desire to see Apple operate in a fair and uniform platform. I believe this should be applied worldwide.

 

[Beautyspin]

This comes back to the core issues I have with Apple and the way they try and gain a piece of all transactions that occur on iOS even those they do not facilitate. I don't think they are entitled to a fee just because there is a link in the App. The difference between an App with either a link in the app or not is so trivial to the API side of things it isn't worth mentioning. The rule exists solely to make linking out less desirable and thus developers stay away from the option and thus the apps are worse. Apple is practicing en********ation to protect revenue they don't even make! They aren't even making this money because Netflix doesn't put a link in the app right now anyway. They are fighting and dying on this hill for no good reason.

US will be launching an antitrust against Apple shortly and they will be looking at the following (as reported).

• Whether Apple favors its own apps and services over those provided by third-party developers.
• In-app purchase fees collected by Apple.

Probably the entire discussion will be moot shortly.

 

[Beautyspin]

US will be launching an antitrust against Apple shortly and they will be looking at the following (as reported).

• Whether Apple favors its own apps and services over those provided by third-party developers.
• In-app purchase fees collected by Apple.

Probably the entire discussion will be moot shortly.

Looks like the US DOJ has already launched the action.

U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly (Gift Article)

The lawsuit caps years of regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s wildly popular suite of devices and services, which have fueled its growth into a nearly $3 trillion public company.

www.nytimes.com

"The Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, the federal government’s most significant challenge to the reach and influence of the company that has put iPhones in the hands of more than a billion people."

 

[BaldiMac]

No...

"Apple is a public company, meaning its ownership consists of shareholders. According to Macrotrends, Apple had over 16 billion shares outstanding as of March 2022. Apple's largest share quantities are owned by organizations.Jul 27, 2022"

Private vs public has multiple definitions. There a public (government owned) vs private (non-government owned). There is also public (publicly traded shares) vs private (non-publicly traded shares).

 

[bobjonesco]

Apple should just release an ‘at your own risk’ version of iOS and let users decide which version they want to install. One as is managed by Apple and one for the Wild West fans.

 

[GermanSuplex]

If I were the other companies, I'd ask Match if they could sit this one out, we don't need your help.

 

[Realityck]

Apple should just release an ‘at your own risk’ version of iOS and let users decide which version they want to install. One as is managed by Apple and one for the Wild West fans.

I suspect certain aspects of iOS will change after more discussion with agreed actions, but its will never be as open as some insist because it is a propriety OS not an open OS. Its bundled with hardware even if it isn't sold. Example the RCS support coming in iOS. Additional App Store changes. Substituting webkit for more variety of other Web browser support.

 

[ghanwani]

The big guys have gotten so big that now they have to fight each other to grow their respective pies.

 

[Dorfdad]

its not about the walled garden for them I believe because most of them do similar things, however they dont preclude or add in asinine clauses into their stores that prevent business from selling products. The one I hate the most is that you can't purchase subscriptions or buy services through the app like Geforce Now or Cloud without them having to release each game as an operate app. This is purposely there to force this competition off their platform.

 

[ToyoCorollaGR]

It’s called the price of the phone.

And they pay the developer fee as well.

 

[MacFarmer]

So if I go to Netflix’s website via Safari and sign up for a subscription Apple gets nothing but if I click a link in the app that takes me to their subscription page Apple gets 27%? Why?

maybe these companies should not use apple technologies and api's?