US Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Rein In Apple, Google App Stores (reuters.com) 48
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: A bipartisan trio of senators introduced a bill that would rein in app stores of companies they said exert too much market control, including Apple and Alphabet's Google. Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar teamed up with Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn to sponsor the bill, which would bar big app stores from requiring app providers to use their payment system. It would also prohibit them from punishing apps that offer different prices or conditions through another app store or payment system.
"I found this predatory abuse of Apple and Google so deeply offensive on so many levels," Blumenthal said in an interview Wednesday. "Their power has reached a point where they are impacting the whole economy in stifling and strangling innovation." Blumenthal said he expected companion legislation in the House of Representatives "very soon."
"I found this predatory abuse of Apple and Google so deeply offensive on so many levels," Blumenthal said in an interview Wednesday. "Their power has reached a point where they are impacting the whole economy in stifling and strangling innovation." Blumenthal said he expected companion legislation in the House of Representatives "very soon."
Support the troops. (Score:1)
"I found this predatory abuse of Apple and Google so deeply offensive on so many levels," Blumenthal said in an interview Wednesday. "Their power has reached a point where they are impacting the whole economy in stifling and strangling innovation." Blumenthal said he expected companion legislation in the House of Representatives "very soon."
Wonder if the "stifled and strangled" are in her district?
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Wonder if the "stifled and strangled" are in her district?
Mainland China?
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That's a quote from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who -- as of TFS -- identifies as male, and has preferred pronouns he/his.
On payments I fully agree (Score:4, Insightful)
I know this is tech blasphemy, but I see the other side, and I want no part of it.
Re:On payments I fully agree (Score:5, Insightful)
It's only about payment
1) allow to use whatever payment they want
2) allow to practice whatever price they want on other platform
3) allow to practice whatever price they want on alternate payment system
There is no valid justification to forbid to sell the same application at a lower price on the other platform... Development time and cost may be very different between platforms...
There is nothing about making sideloading a required feature... only killing some abusive rules...
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On a more pragmatic matter, this seems like a fight within the softw
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Yah... that too. We all had the choice from the outset: You could hang Apple's "walled garden," of vetted, sandboxed, and reviewed apps that, while not perfect or invulnerable, are unlikely to be trojans for Russian and Chinese hackers and identity thieves. Or you could go the Android route, skip the garden, and open your back door to the entire jungle; and if you're good enough at wilderness survival to make it, good for you. If not? Oh well.
What the hell do we gain by not having that choice anymore?
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Unlikely to be trojans?
OH REALLY...
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-... [lifehacker.com]
Re:On payments I fully agree (Score:4, Insightful)
Plusses and minuses.
I see it unfairly burdening Apple with support costs - their kid bought $1000 in smurfberries. Well, if it used Apple's payment system, Apple could refund it. But if the app used their own payment system, what then? Apple will get tons of support calls for it and they can't do anything - there's no transaction Apple did they could reverse. I suppose Apple could demand developers pay into a refund pot to handle refunds, which could also be seen as unfairly curbing payment methods too. But it would allow Apple to offer refunds to parents whose kids just spent the rent money.
It goes for anything - if a purchase was made and Apple wasn't involved, Apple tech support would have to pawn it off to the developer. Then again, perhaps all Apple will say is "Sorry, we don't see that transaction in your account. Your best option is to call your credit card company and do a chargeback".
On the plus side, the fact that if they used their own payment system, may be a disincentive. I mean, if I have to do in app payments, and you want me to give up my credit card number again? This may be enough friction that keeps developers on Apple's payment system .
Maybe the solution is if you want to use your own payment system, you must make a free app - that way Apple washes itself of having to deal with multiple payment systems. If you want to charge for your app, you need to use Apple's payment system.
So free apps can do whatever they want - use Apple's payment system, use their own, etc. Apps that cost money, well, since you're taking it 30% off anyways, then you much use Apple's payment system.
Shouldn't impact many apps - Fortnite is free after all.
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Your best option is to call your credit card company and do a chargeback
As a former credit card customer service representative, I used to receive those calls from customers complaining about recurring credit card charges by companies like Directv, alarm companies, ISPs, etc. They want to cancel their service and their first instinct was to contact the credit card company when they should be contacting the company they have the service with and turning off the service.
If you have a problem with a merchant, you should contact the merchant first. If you cannot resolve your issu
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I see it unfairly burdening Apple with support costs - their kid bought $1000 in smurfberries. Well, if it used Apple's payment system, Apple could refund it. But if the app used their own payment system, what then? Apple will get tons of support calls for it and they can't do anything
Let me just be the first to respond to your comment by saying fuck them. They chose to take an anticompetitive position in between users and developers and now they can reap what they have sown. Google has been allowing sideloading all along and they don't seem to have been crushed under the weight of support cases.
You iFanboys don't even know what your argument is. First it's "almost nobody will use it so why bother" which is bullshit because it's about freedom and choice, then "the walled garden keeps us
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New to Apple are we?
"The fact is that all the arguments against sideloading and against third party payment processors are both logical fallacies and bootlicking bullshit. Apple has sold you a bunch of provably false information and you've bought it, and are now holding your hands over your ears and shouting LA LA LA"
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Or you can get card insurance to protect against smurfberries? I actually have that...
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It's only about payment 1) allow using whatever payment they want 2) allow practicing whatever price they want on another platform 3) allow practicing whatever price they want on alternate payment system
There is no valid justification to forbid to sell the same application at a lower price on the other platform... Development time and cost may be very different between platforms...
There is nothing about making sideloading a required feature... only killing some abusive rules...
On payments? This is the most delusional argument out there. Developers filing suit only wants more profit. That is as simple as these suites are. Have you ever heard of people complaining about the price of Candy Crush? You can pay 99c or 99 dollars. Up to you. The app is written to dive into people's addictions to derive money out of them. And Blizzard just wants to keep more of that money instead of giving it to Google or Apple. That is how simple the "Payment" argument is. If people were honest abou
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The problem is, apple has abused their power on the app store.
Example, try to find a console emulator there.
You cant, because it doesnt produce apple any money and worse, might take customers away from their arcade.
The "take you data" part is already lost, when even our own DMV sells your information without asking you or giving you a penny of the sale.
At this point, I simply want to use my phone with the same freedom that I use my computer.
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But, give developers a way to circumvent the data-theft checks
What data theft checks? Apple is doing nothing effective along those lines, and is still delivering malware through their store on behalf of others while claiming that their walled garden and app inspection process protects users from malware. Well, it does not; Apple is in fact abetting the malware distribution at this time.
Don't force Apps to let them circumvent the App Store review process. It has kept us more safe
No, it has not. Immensely popular apps on the app store are malware.
and forced developers to write better apps.
Better malware, you mean.
I know this is tech blasphemy, but I see the other side, and I want no part of it.
It's only considered blasphemous because it is non-factual, and nerds care about such things
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1) they get a cut (of cost and subscriptions ) --- regardless if it's fair or not
2) people want a 'choice' of app stores --- I wanna say something snarky about not paying for apps, but people would never pirate a $1 app . . . (sarcasm, sorry)
Most everything else isn't a legit gripe. So, if they're going to force this, Apple is going to need to heavily sandbox (moreso than already) everything using a "wild west" API. They have to, because anything that breaks t
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Because it has worked out so well thus far... [roll eyes]
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-... [lifehacker.com]
https://www.zdnet.com/article/... [zdnet.com]
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But, give developers a way to circumvent the data-theft checks, and you'll find none will bother with Apple's safeguards. Everyone will say "go to this website and download our app (which steals all your data and contacts and location history and mines on your device)".
This is the fallacy of extremes, there are a lot of other options than just "one app store" and "no app store". Having competing app stores will require individual stores to provide value for what they charge.
Next up ... (Score:2)
Senators ... sponsor the bill, which would bar big app stores from requiring app providers to use their payment system. It would also prohibit them from punishing apps that offer different prices or conditions through another app store or payment system.
Congress will allow Medicare/Medicaid providers to use a different payment system and charge different prices for the same service, etc ...
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TIL that Google and Apple are public sector entities that ultimately answer to us via the democratic process, like Medicare and Medicaid.
End the appstore payment monopolies (Score:2)
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Also we'd still be buying apps from the AppStore, but for apps like Spotify, Netflix, Hulu etc, can charge their monthly fees via alternative methods instead of paying Apple 30% of all the monthly fees too
Playstation? (Score:3, Insightful)
And not a word is said about Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo...
Re: Playstation? (Score:1)
Re: Playstation? (Score:5, Informative)
Cooperation in Congress (Score:2)
Say it ain't so
A test (Score:5, Insightful)
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Don't be unreasonable. No need for a tech angle. You want a demonstration of ignorance just ask a legislators what was in the law they just voted on
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You know how to determine just how ignorant and egregiously stupid our legislators are? Let them speak about technology and tech companies and introduce legislation concerning technology.
Okay, with you so far...
With Blackburn and Blumenthal involved, you can bet whatever legislation they're putting forth was written by the lawyers for AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast.
Probably, but...
Just watch who will benefit the most: those three will have their own payment systems soon.
AT&T is partnered with Intuit and uses GoPayment. Verizon already has a "Merchant Services" arm which provides CC processing. So I guess that leaves Comcast. .333 is not too horrible for baseball, but is in general a failing grade.
Welcome (Score:2)
Whatever could go wrong?
Oh... yay. (Score:1, Insightful)
Tear down the App and Play stores... stick it to Apple and Google! And we can all go back to the free-for-all cesspit of shovelware and malware that was Cydia back in the jailbreaking days. Anyone not technically proficient enough to pick out and run antivirus on their phone? Fuck 'em! They deserve to have their identities stolen and bank accounts emptied by Russian and Chinese hackers. Enjoy your phone's day-long battery life? Too fucking bad. With no vetting, sandboxing, or other advantages that th
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Re:Oh... yay. (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Oh... yay. (Score:1)
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I would estimate that 95 percent of the software development of these apps are done by Apple
Well, that's provably, senselessly wrong right on the face.
through very well tested and continuously developed APIs.
The total volume of application code (all apps) outweighs the total volume of OS code (including bundled apps) by some massive factor.
This is offered to these companies for free.
Complete falsehood. First, you have to pay money to be an Apple Developer, unlike making apps for Android which are then sideloaded. Second, you have to have a Macintosh to develop iOS software, which also costs money. You could use a Hackintosh, but that's illegal and if you became successful while doing it you could
Sideloading!! (Score:2)
In IOS is coming baby!
Fixing a rotten culture (Score:2)
I'm getting the feeling that this may be too little too late.
The data mining, abuse the user, the "Trust" kingdom, telling the user what they can and cannot do, and just being complete pompous holier than thou and hypocritical asses has been going on for many years now and users have come to accept and expect all of this. What these senators propose is just a tiny drop in the bucket to put out this fire that has been raging for so long, amounting to little more than a feel good measure.
What needs to be done
Alphabet's Google (Score:1)
As opposed to that other Google, you mean?