S Korea bans app payment monopolies in world first

Antiquesaving

This isn't about paying Apple or Google a fee for their App store.

Most are fine with that.

It is after people have bought the App that the developers get shafted.

Example I have a $1 App it scans documents, the developer get $0.70 and the App store gets $0.30 seems fair.

It's 15%.

This App does a great job but if I want to export the document to pfd I need to purchase an upgrade ( JPG export is free) if I want to use the cloud storage service from the App then that is another fee because these purchases are within the App the App store takes 30% of those fees.

15%. Not 30%.

So every year I renew the service the App store gets 30% for doing nothing.

15%. Not 30%.

Now if you play an online game that is available on Apple, Android and PC Windows OS. Only Apple and Android get a 30% cut of any in game purchases,

15% for Apple. Not 30%.

And if you put your game on Steam or Nintendo Switch etc., they would get 30%.

If you want secure ( as they claim) transaction, use Apple or Google. But that should be a choice and not a rule. It is anti-competition, ironically, fair and square.

Other company should be able to provide their own payment system to the product they made.

While i agree with the payment system options for the store, but the commission one is fair game. There are other platforms available and the creators can just adjust their pricing on the high commission platforms to match profits on the other platforms. The government should just collect the taxes from these commissions and then create policies to support these industries.

What we see here is developers still want to use the safe ecosystem of the monopolies without paying a fee.

This isn't about paying Apple or Google a fee for their App store.

Most are fine with that.

It is after people have bought the App that the developers get shafted.

Example I have a $1 App it scans documents, the developer get $0.70 and the App store gets $0.30 seems fair.

This App does a great job but if I want to export the document to pfd I need to purchase an upgrade ( JPG export is free) if I want to use the cloud storage service from the App then that is another fee because these purchases are within the App the App store takes 30% of those fees.

So every year I renew the service the App store gets 30% for doing nothing.

Now if you play an online game that is available on Apple, Android and PC Windows OS. Only Apple and Android get a 30% cut of any in game purchases,

So play the same game on a Windows machine and buy "100 coins of game gold" and the game developer get the full payment,

Play the same game on an iPad and buy the same 100 coins and the developer only get 70% of what they get from the person playing on a Windows machine.

To make matters worse Apple store developer agreement states that the developers cannot sell at lower price than available through Apple App store.

Samsung does not like how Apple plays ball.

Unfortunately it's not that straightforward.

Even now there are plenty of sites that offer 3rd party apps but you have to disable security feature in Android to enable installation. And this is the main root for malicious software into your phone.

What we see here is developers still want to use the safe ecosystem of the monopolies without paying a fee.

I agree they have reason and there should be some way to better remunerate them.

And zichi , you use your card but it's in Apple pay system - that's what they are talking about!

zichiToday  10:54 am JST

Never used Apple Pay, Apple Money or Apple Card. I prefer my credit cards

Same here but we are not taking about that type of service.

You ( and I ) are probably not the ones affected by this thing.

It is those that play online game apps or apps that have a service fee.

If they buy products, or game upgrades etc...they must purchase through Apple.

Every time I hear people defending Apple and Google on this I crack up laughing.

Seems people have short memories.

When Microsoft was bundling it's web browser into its own OS people went up the walls demanding the right not only to remove it but not even have it include.

Imagine if at that time Microsoft also required all in program payments to go through them, renewing, software licensing, only game purchases, etc....

People would have demanded the dismantling and breakup of Microsoft.

But now that it is Apple ( and a lesser extent Google) people are all backing the giant monopolies.

Hilarious!

Excellent news.

@Mat

What's different about paying a commission to the service hosting your files, handling the transactions and taxes, and providing a commercial marketplace for your product?

Well, Uber, McDonald's, Amazon, and most other apps aren't required to use Apple and Google's payment scheme and accept credit card transactions directly.

Only games and cartoons are forced to use Apple/Google's payment scheme and pay a 30 percent commission, which can be considered discriminatory.

This law makes it fair for all apps.

Naw that argument doesn’t hold much water. Apple bans other app stores from being set up, so the option of hosting apps elsewhere doesn’t exist. Also bans apps from informing users of how they can go to a website to make digital purchases. Very anti competitive and think Korea is hopefully paving the way for other countries to join up.

"We need this law to protect the diversity of our industry, where artists and creators of all economic backgrounds can share their content without having to worry about the commission fees."

So, shop owners don't pay rent in Korea? Citizens dont pay tax?

What's different about paying a commission to the service hosting your files, handling the transactions and taxes, and providing a commercial marketplace for your product?

Fee's may be high, but if you dont want to pay them, dont use the platform. Put your wares on a webpage and handle the payments yourself, which will involve paying for hosting, and paying for card handling fees.

This 'law" is really dumb.