Wednesday, September 11, 2024

No Alternative Payments in Louisiana

Ariel Zilber (via Hacker News):

Apple successfully killed proposed legislation in Louisiana that would have required the iPhone maker to allow developers who market their apps on the app store to use an alternative payment system by threatening to cancel the making of a Will Smith film in the state, according to a report.

In 2021, lawmakers in the Bayou State were keen on approving a bill that would have allowed developers of apps to use alternative payments systems which would have circumvented Apple’s app store.

[…]

“He basically said that if we didn’t kill the bill, he’d kill the movie and hurt our economy,” Magee told the Journal.

Perhaps Apple TV+ is more strategic than I thought. It’s expensive to run, but it’s dual-use in that it produces salable content and can also be used for lobbying.

Previously:

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Absolutely shameful, Apple. Absolutely shameful.


Hey, look, we've got monopoly power, and we're happy to wield it!


I guess what Louisiana should do is enact that law and then set up its own payment processor. Any time somebody watches Apple's Will Smith movie and pays with PelicanPay in BayouBucks, they get a cut regardless of where it was filmed.

Also, who the hell is still making Will Smith movies. Are they making a biopic about Artur Walczak?


An employee of the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech colossus reportedly told Tanner Magee, a senior lawmaker in the Louisiana House of Representatives…

Think that was Eddie Cue or an underling?

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