How is anyone's choice being restricted when customers are free to buy any phone they want and developers can choose to develop for any platform they want?
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South Korea Could Ban Apple From Requiring Developers to Use In-App Purchase System
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I suppose those that want their Apple(s) and to eat them too. Sad creatures.
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I knew this would come. First, use CP as an excuse. Then let's use "but what about the terrorists?".
It's predictable where this going.
Korean developers and customer are the losers and the people that will gain would be the third party developers themselves. Apple‘s app store rules and limits will alway be required.
South Korea may soon ban Apple and Google from requiring app developers to use their in-app purchase systems, reports Reuters.
South Korea's legislation and judiciary committee is expected to approve an "Anti-Google Law" that amends the existing Telecommunications Business Act. It will require Apple and Google to allow third-party payment methods in their app stores in South Korea, and it will let developers use independent payment systems.
If the amendment is approved by the committee, the National Assembly of South Korea will hold a final vote on Wednesday. Support for the bill has been picking up, and earlier this month, officials in South Korea met with the founder of the Coalition for App Fairness and the senior vice president of Match Group, both vocal anti-Apple critics.
In a statement to Reuters, Apple said that the legislation "will put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections, make it difficult to manage their purchases."
If passed, Apple believes the bill will cause user trust in App Store purchases to fall, which will lead to "fewer opportunities for the over 482,000 registered developers in Korea who have earned more than KRW8.55 trillion to date with Apple."
Apple currently collects 15 to 30 percent commission on in-app purchases made through the App Store, and developers are required to use the company's in-app purchase system. Apple's App Store rules and restrictions are at the heart of its legal battle with Epic Games and are the target of similar legislation in the United States and Europe.
An antitrust bill proposed in the United States earlier this month would force Apple and Google to allow third-party app stores and sideloading, while the European Commission last year introduced the Digital Markets Act that would regulate how app stores operate in Europe.
Article Link: South Korea Could Ban Apple From Requiring Developers to Use In-App Purchase System
Peak naïveté. The cost of software isn’t coming down, this is just about how much goes to Apple and how much goes to devs.
Awesome, finally able to side load porn apps rather than using Safari! Way to go SK!
Incorrect. One can buy a Mac Mini, which is $700. A "decent" one for local development purposes (512GB storage, 16GB RAM) is less than $1200. One can rent Macs by the hour through the many cloud providers available. One doesn't have to pay $99/year unless one wants to publish to the App Store.
Yes but you have many malls in any city so if you don't like the rent in one you go to another. If you don't like any you open the store outside the mall. Apple being actually the monopole in the smartphone market (or at least by far the most important player) you have no choice but use their store and pay whatever fees they force you. Why the same thing is not an issue on MacBook? I can buy the app anywhere I want and install it on my laptop.
And from the customer point of view if you buy Chevrolet do you have to go to Chevrolet gas station that charges the oil company 30% overhead? Do you have to go to the dealer to fix or buy anything for your car?
I have never had to do this on Android. I never know what the backend is because the front end looks exactly native.
Korea is an anti-competition country and they will do anything that will benefit any KOREAN company willing to setup up an alternative and make them a few bucks. let's talk about the competition we can't buy any other tv than Samsung and LG - TCL is rarely available through a store or two - no other phones than Samsung or LG - though apple is available it is seen as an anti-national brand if you favour it. So Korea for what it seems is nothing more than a communist authoritarian country similar to China. Today twitter in Korea is lit with people saying foreigners are spreading corona and they should be locked up and have trackers strapped to them. This is the true face of South Korea.
As an actual iOS/Mac developer who has published apps I have to say this is complete rubbish.
I and many developers I know try to avoid using Apple APIs and dev software as much as is possible. It will almost certainly be an insignificant/negligable percentage of profits from the app store that go towards app store resources.
Apple is putting their various APIs out for one reason: lock-in. But most developers don't fall for it usually and will try to write code that works multi-platform as much as possible.
Apple has put out lots of APIs/services to try and get more lock-in that have been miserable failures eg. GameCentre.
The only reason developers would put token use of services like GameCentre in is to seek Apples favour in order to get featured. They would always have a back-up highscores/achievements service that worked multiplatform.
Can't wait for mobile computers to be forced to allow competition like desktop & laptop computers have always had to for buying software on them.
I had to sign up just to say this.
No, they don't. Korean software developers had never before in the history of ever been able to (i) successfully monetize software development for the programs they created for the Korean market (almost exclusively on Windows), due to massive rates of piracy; or (ii) access the global marketplace. Apple's App Store and Google's ripoff of the App Store have created a thriving software industry in Korea. The Korean government may just get all these Korean developers locked out of the platforms, or otherwise force them to decamp to other jurisdictions where the government is not so stupid as to kill their businesses.
I think you may be conflating this bill with closed systems vs open systems, close and open markets generically. Apple and Google can still have its closed system as per this bill.
As far as I understand the South Korean bill, their devices and OSs (Apple and Google, and others in the same line) are required to be Neutral to how customers pay and merchants get payed for their digital services and digital goods in their devices of choice, through the telecommunications infrastructure. The bill as far as I’ve read does not require opening the system to third party app stores or app installs without going through the App Store (does not require the ability to side load apps). But the case in case the App Store and other integrated components to be Neutral in this context.
Its not by chance that this is done in context of Telecommunications Business Act. In a lot of aspects this is similar to Net Neutrality debate in America.
This what Tim Cook said about Net Neutrality:
“Consumers must be allowed to access the lawful internet content, applications, and services of their choice, using non-harmful devices of their choice (subject, of course, to reasonable network management). Broadband providers should not block, throttle, or otherwise discriminate against lawful websites and services.”
iOS and Android and OS cover, let’s say 100% population (give or take) using the Internet. Meaning, these devices are not bystanders of the planetary telecommunications infrastructure. These devices and OSs are indeed part of the global telecommunications infrastructure as much ISP platforms are supporting planetary trade along with all sorts of digital processes and assets.
In my view, the stance of being in favor of Net Neutrality and not in favor of Device/OS Neutrality in the current context is inconsistent. Because the devices their OSs are indeed parts/components of the telecommunication infrastructure. A product that comes out as a mix of private and state investments. They are at the edge of the network, they are the points of such, as such are able to regulate access to the “beast” entirely.
What Apples argues for Net Neutrality can easily be argued in the same tone for Device / OS Neutrality in the context of both Android and iOS, OSs that are indeed components of the telecommunications infrastructure of today. In this context, replace Apple in the letter with any other digital services or software developer.
I hope you understand the difference between being Open/Closed and Neutral/Non Neutral. iOS because of the App Store policies is neither Open or Neutral. Neither is Android when paired with Google Play due to its policies. Both companies through the App Stores and OSs are indeed discriminating against lawful services in favor of their own services (for payment, music, podcasts, TV steaming and much more) much as probably ISPs would do if not for Net Neutrality.
The moral stance of “oh they did built device and iOS, created this and that, manage this and that” well so did and do ISPs and many others that Apple and Google business stand on the shoulders of. Yet in such cases they argued the opposite … which is natural. Look at the trillions ISPs telecommunications platforms helps the economy to generate … Apple with its App Store billions is not without company in such feats.
We, the customers, aren’t neither so some food for thought … maybe.
My believe is that we and the market as a whole, inspite if the challenges, have benefited from Net Neutrality and OS/Device Neutrality. The South Korean bill does not go as deep as Net Neutrality precepts, it just required some Neutrality from these super platforms. Case in case, payment and billing of digital services and assets. Totally understandable if any not for anything else … from being a customer owning digital assets and using digital services.
Cheers.
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so instead of showing me mac devs that cannot make it without the AppStore, you show me how iOS devs are getting screwed by being IN the AppStore. Thanks for agreeing and my making my point for me.
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so instead of showing me mac devs that cannot make it without the AppStore, you show me how iOS devs are getting screwed by being IN the AppStore. Thanks for agreeing and my making my point for me.
Nice try but that is not what my comment reflected at all.
I don't know any devs personally but I have read several comments from devs on MR lamenting my comment in post #194, they cannot make it because as soon as they publish a decent app it gets copied and posted for free under an ad supported model. My comment does not speak to Mac devs at all despite your attempt to twist my post, it speaks only to your comment about iOS devs that cannot make money and I offered a far more likely reason for that than your implication that with alternate stores or IAP processors the devs you know would be thriving.
Well the data around technology and innovation shows that US (and others) may be able to learn a thing or two from South Koreans with only 1/6th of the population.
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My belief, this type of thing and forcing Apple to open up their NFC and others types of laws aimed at taking successful entrepreneurs IP and divesting them from it is micro-government regulation...which is a innovation killer And while I am powerless to stop it, I don't have to be for it.
Humm. According to well known innovation indexes, funny enough South Korea tops the US.
Innovation and Apple are two different things. Innovation is an attitude that manifests in products and services and that is shared by multiple companies … Apple is one of those companies.
I call this to attention because it seams that any sort of action that may require Apple to change its behavior is equated to some kind of danger of loosing the ability of the entire market to innovate and in consequence better serve citizens.
As fashionable as Apple is … such relationship of cause and effect does not look realistic.
If the precondition and drive of Innovation is the ability or potential of a single private entity to “tax” any digital transaction at 30% at planetary scale … the problem/challenge is worst than I thought. It’s an extremely narrow view of progress and innovation if not greatly profit from it.
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Apple is taking billions of billions of dollars to tie developer into their store. Apple is essential monopoly in its ecosystems. This tie in should make illegal.
You ca literally download Windows ISO from Microsoft website and install without shell out single penny.
Heck, you don’t need even activate Windows these days. All you get is annoying watermark to nagging you and you can’t personalize your Windows install.
Otherwise, it is complete install of Windows. You can use it completely free
This makes no sense.
Apple allowing third party stores benefits China.
They can then produce and moderate their own government store, while blocking access to all others
Car manufacturers used to do what Apple is doing, if you wanted a specific brand, you had to go to that brands authorised dealership. If you wanted spare parts for that brand, you had to get them from an authorised dealership, if you wanted the brand repaired or serviced, you had to get it done by the brands authorised repair centre. The law put a change to that. You can only purchase iphone/ipad apps from the Apple store. Anyone making apps for the Apple store have to use Apples own pay system, even though other pay systems exist.
So why is it then that car manufacturers were not allowed to protect their own brands, they designed the cars, they built the cars, they built the spare parts for the cars but they were told they cannot restrict their own products to their own dealerships but yet defenders of Apple are saying it's OK for Apple to force developers to use Apples own pay system and customers forced to use Apples app store if they want to use an app on their iphone or ipad.
Why was it not OK for the car manufactuers to restcit their practices but yet it's ok for Apple to restict theirs?
So why is it then that car manufacturers were not allowed to protect their own brands, they designed the cars, they built the cars, they built the spare parts for the cars but they were told they cannot restrict their own products to their own dealerships but yet defenders of Apple are saying it's OK for Apple to force developers to use Apples own pay system and customers forced to use Apples app store if they want to use an app on their iphone or ipad.
Why was it not OK for the car manufactuers to restcit their practices but yet it's ok for Apple to restict theirs?