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Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases, rules judge in Epic v. Apple

Genx3

Member
I love the smell of apple getting fucked in the morning.
How is Apple getting fucked?

Wouldn't circumventing Apple's 30% make this illegal as the courts decided that Apple could still charge the 30% commissions whether the product was sold on their store or not?

Alternative payment methods does not equal circumventing Apple's commission.

Let's see what happens next...
 
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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Why do people hate Apple?

They literally invented the modern day touchscreen smartphone.

It's super simple to understand. I'm a Google\Android guy, but I LOVE what Apple brings\brought to the industry. But.....

- Their products are literally over-priced (don't consider what the market says).
- They are a Trillion dollar company that doesn't seem to want to "give back" to their consumers at all!
- They act like they created everything in the market when that's a lie.
- Some people hate their "cool" marketing\vibe. I personally LOVE IT TO DEATH!
- They want TOO much control of everything if it connects to their ecosystem.
 

Dr Bass

Member
Why do people hate Apple?

They literally invented the modern day touchscreen smartphone.
You know, I basically use all Apple products. I personally feel that if you care about quality and experience, there aren't better alternatives.

But boy do I wish there were.

How can you not understand why people are disgusted with Apple these days? Gatekeeping, rent-seeking, lying, strong arming .... I mean come on, they behave as one of the most evil tech companies in the world and try to hide behind a visage of "We just wan't to make the best products!"
 

reksveks

Member
Wouldn't circumventing Apple's 30% make this illegal as the courts decided that Apple could still charge the 30% commissions whether the product was sold on their store or not?
AFAIK nope, not illegal. Apple still would have the ability to create a rule and system that generates a commission on transactions from purchases on mobile Web (ios) but that doesn't mean this implementation is illegal, it just means Apple needs to implement that system and rule.

Also remember it's probably more of a pain to chase down the payments post the transaction.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
AFAIK nope, not illegal. Apple still would have the ability to create a rule and system that generates a commission on transactions from purchases on mobile Web (ios) but that doesn't mean this implementation is illegal, it just means Apple needs to implement that system and rule.

Also remember it's probably more of a pain to chase down the payments post the transaction.
Even if Apple does implement a rule like that, Apple will hate it if they have to go after third party companies for the money. With embedded iOS stuff, it's all automated with an Apple cut on the backend.

This is no different than other industries.

In the retailer/supplier world, each side wants to control when to pay the other guy.

The retailer wants costs and deals automated so it automatically comes off the order. The supplier prefers to charge retailers full price and any special prices or deals are paid later via the the retailer sending in claims saying the supplier owes deal money.

The power is in the hands of which side wins because it makes it a tug of war from the other side to get their due. All the while, the winner holds onto the money as long as possible and hopes the other side doesnt notice or have the man power to track things properly and ask for payback owed. Or they drag it out and legit pay claims..... but like 8 months later.

In simplified terms it would be like selling a pack of Oreos.

- The store and Nabisco agree on $2.00 That's the deal. The regular price is $2.50
- Nabisco prefers to charge the retailer $2.50. And come back to them later for 50 cent claims
- Store says fuck that. Just bill me $2.00 upfront. Dont want to get into admin hassles later and missing out on 50 cent claims

If Nabsico wins and sells for $2.50, they have nothing to lose. At worst, they pay back the store all the claims x 50 cents each. But best situation is the store doesn't get around to it or sends in claims for less than they bought. Even when Nabisco agrees, fine. They'll pay back the store next year when they get around to it (wink wink).

If the store wins getting upfront $2.00, it sounds like a great easy process for all. But what can happen is the store "magically" underpays bills by assuming it's a 70 cent discount. Now it's up to Nabisco to have enough manpower to track this and go after the store for 20 cents per unit they underpaid. It's hard for suppliers to track this because when you got a lot of deals plugged into upfront pricing, it's hard to know if a 50 cent deal or a 70 deal is legit since every store deal is different and it takes a lot of admin work to know what upfront price is legit or not. But if all stores buy at regular price first ($2.50), it's easy to notice if they are underpaying a bill. The store can drag it on too, and not pay back for ages. And it happens a lot. Funny how you never see a retailer overpay for stuff by accident. It's always trying to slip through an underpayment hoping nobody notices.

So you can see whom ever has control of the process has the upper hand.
 
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reksveks

Member
Just a small update on this topic

Re the Korean law,
- Google is basically allowing other payment methods and will reduce their cut by 4%. Not 100% on the process that Google will get their commission.
- Apple does not believe that they need to make any changes.


Re this judges ruling:


Apple wanted to delay the judges ruling about allowing other ways for devs to highlight that there are other ways to buy via external links/buttons whilst appealing it (Epic are also appealing it). Got less than a month I think it comes into effect.

Tuesday’s ruling is not the final word. Apple said it would seek a reversal of the judge’s decision with a federal appeals court.

“Apple believes no additional business changes should be required to take effect until all appeals in this case are resolved,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement.
 
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reksveks

Member
That's not what was ruled in the US. Only thing Apple has to allow is linking to your web site; "anti-steering" it's called.

Sorry, yeah, it's an anti-steering rule so have corrected my wording I think. does it have to be your site? Also not sure apple is allow to specify what kinda page it leads to. it gets a bit weird with that weird company that's name I have forgotten.

Edit

Paddle

 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Sorry, yeah, it's an anti-steering rule so have corrected my wording I think. does it have to be your site? Also not sure apple is allow to specify what kinda page it leads to. it gets a bit weird with that weird company that's name I have forgotten.

Edit

Paddle

Oh sure.. any site.
 

reksveks

Member
Oh sure.. any site.
Ignoring the fact that it might be possible to implement Paddle onto any site. Not 100% sure on the standard implementation.

The judges ruling is

permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and (ii) communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.

I understand that as they can't technically prohibit devs based on anything otherwise there would have been wording to suggest that they could set rules about the external links. how about you?
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I understand that as they can't technically prohibit devs based on anything otherwise there would have been wording to suggest that they could set rules about the external links. how about you?

Oh for sure; I just meant "site of their choice"... not limited to their own domain or anything.. wasn't intended to be that specific. We'll see if Apple tries to somehow limit this and still meet the law though. Like can they bar it from happening in a popup? They probably will try, and that will have to be tested in court.
 
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