{"id":30057,"date":"2020-09-09T17:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T21:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=30057"},"modified":"2020-09-09T19:02:55","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T23:02:55","slug":"apple-countersues-epic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/09\/apple-countersues-epic\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Countersues Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Juli Clover<\/a> (Hacker<\/a> News<\/a>, 9to5Mac<\/a>):<\/p>\n

In a court filing today [link<\/a>], Apple says that Epic’s lawsuit is “nothing more than a basic disagreement over money,” highlighting the revenue that Epic Games has earned through the Fortnite iOS app and Apple’s developer tools.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Epic, says Apple, has used more than 400 of Apple’s APIs and frameworks, five versions of the Apple SDK, has had its apps reviewed more than 200 times, and has pushed more than 140 updates to Apple customers. Apple says that it also provided advertising each time Epic released a new season for Fortnite, offering “free promotion and favorable tweets” to more than 500 million end users.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

This idea that Apple is owed because a developer “used” its APIs is bonkers.<\/p>\n\n

Also, it’s hilarious that, in the Spotify case<\/a>, Apple argued that “Spotify wants all the benefits of a free app without being free. A full 84 percent of the apps in the App Store pay nothing to Apple[…]. That’s not discrimination, as Spotify claims; it’s by design.” Now it argues that “Epic decided it would like to reap the benefits of the App Store without paying anything for them.”<\/p>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Apple: Epic only looking for a free ride<\/p>\n

Epic, according to Apple, has given Apple $257,000,000 in commission fees in two years over in-app purchases that Apple has no hand, act, part in, doesn’t host on their servers, just for the privilege of existing on their OS. ‘Free ride’.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Tim Sweeney<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Presumably they’re just posturing for the court, but if Apple truly believes the fight over the App Store’s distribution and payment monopoly is a “basic disagreement over money,” then they’ve lost all sight of the tech industry’s founding principles.<\/p>

Foremost among those principles: the device you own is yours. You’re free to use it as you wish. Configure it as you like, install software you choose, create your own apps, share them with friends. Your device isn’t lorded over by some all-powerful corporation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Marco Arment<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Dev relations are at an all-time low as you continue to make statements to the effect of “Developers’ only value to our platform is IAP commissions.”<\/p>\n

People buy the iPhone — you know, that hardware you make tons of money from — because of OUR APPS.<\/p>\n

(Not even addressing the false and disproven “everyone plays by the same rules” lie you keep repeating, as well as the massive elephants in the room: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and every other free app that offer no App Store purchases, yet are somehow OK under this logic.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

It seems like these two corporate giants — though “giant” at different scales — are very happy to test how much they can piss off users and regulatory bodies. Epic is being belligerent in its steadfast refusal to play by the iOS App Store rules. Apple is going all-in on whatever it can get away with.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

One of the things I keep wondering about everything here is what it would take for Apple to change course if the law were not involved. I wonder how much control it would be able to exert before users began to switch away in large enough numbers that it would cause consternation in Cupertino. But, then, I also wonder why it would even get to that level — no company should be pushing so hard as to test customer loyalty and trust. This Fortnite thing gets awful close for some players, I imagine. Some will simply stop playing; others will play on another console. But some might decide that they no longer want to be a part of Apple’s ecosystem. You can have all of the gaming consoles you want and switch between them, but most people only have one phone.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

So far, everything is more-or-less holding: many developers need Apple’s platforms and I doubt they are shedding users in meaningful numbers. But it is bizarre and troubling that we are having this conversation. It suggests that Apple is increasingly finding ways to financially exploit its products for self-enrichment at the expense of users and developers. From a strategy perspective, as far as I am concerned, that is not as inspiring as make great products that practically sell themselves<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n