Russian Lawmaker Seeks to Cap Apple's App Store Commission at 20%

\o/ wohhhhhh it's slowly getting there...

The most important part of this news is "...the bill also proposes to oblige owners of mobile operating systems to allow users to install alternative stores."

Now just EU and US missing...

Great, just great news!

I sincerely hope you're being sarcastic. What that bill proposes is absolutely ludicrous and clearly cooked up by either incredibly stupid people who don't understand technology and operating systems, or highly malicious government operatives who want a back-door into Apple's OS.

Draft legislation submitted in Russia this week could see Apple's App Store commission cut by a third if it is ratified by the country's parliament.



Reuters ('https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-apple/russian-lawmaker-tries-to-curb-mobile-app-payouts-for-apple-and-google-idUSKBN25S5QP') reports that the bill requires that commissions on the sale of apps by Apple and Google be capped at 20%. Apple has a long-standing policy of collecting 30% commission on all sales (including in-app purchases) in the App store.
According to a Russian-language Kommersant ('https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4474995?from=main_1') report, which has been shared by Tumusov ('https://twitter.com/FedotTumusov/status/1300710861611446272?s=20') on Twitter, the bill also proposes to oblige owners of mobile operating systems to allow users to install alternative stores. This would be especially problematic for Apple, since the App Store is the only official source for apps on its mobile devices.

Apple has been involved in a number of ‌App Store‌ controversies in recent months, from the Hey email app rejection ('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/06/16/apple-threatens-to-remove-hey-from-app-store/') to its battle with Epic Games ('https://www.macrumors.com/guide/epic-games-vs-apple/'). Regulators have also been taking a look at Apple's policies regarding ‌App Store‌ commissions and exclusive control over app distribution.

Apple is already facing App Store scrutiny in Russia since the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) concluded ('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/10/russia-apple-abused-app-store-position/') that Apple abused its dominant ‌App Store‌ position and limited competition in the iOS app market by banning parental control apps. Apple said at the time that it would appeal the decision.

Article Link: Russian Lawmaker Seeks to Cap Apple's App Store Commission at 20% ('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/09/02/russia-could-cap-apple-app-store-commission/')

1. They are asking Apple and Google to give part of their commission to fund “IT training”. This is coded language for troll farms, cyberwarfare units and Wagner Group.

2. Like Epic, they are trying to open up iOS so that malware, spyware and banned apps can be installed, either by a distributor or user stupidity.

This is what happens when you don’t have a vetted sandboxed system:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/cheap-chinese-smartphones-malware

Seems like a rather dumb sollution. I understand that Apple has a partial monopoly, but it’s not a complete one: you always have the option of switching to android or a few small other operating systems.
I personally like the idea of a walled garden a lot as it contributes a lot to my digital safety.

So they want the industry-standard fee cut to 20% with no consolation on if this is viable or not, and on top of that, 1/3rd of that fee should be paid to the government on top of whatever sales tax they have. Sure these companies will just have to cut something to make it work, perhaps free apps and free hosting.

I am sure developers will be delighted when their $2000/month storage bill comes in whether they sell a single unit or not, like the good old days.

Why is that bad for indie developers? Serious question.

30% pays for many developer services like free CloudKit, free Apple Maps usage, fast app review times, many SDK features and improvements every year, and much more.

20% means Apple will cut back on developer services to make up the difference and likely charge for services that used to be 100% free for all developers.

Well, as a Russian myself, I get a say in this. It's a standard braindead initiative by a braindead official. Thankfully, they usually get revised once more intelligent officials start realizing how retarded they are. Previous attempts have included:

- Internet access only after submitting passport information for kids under 14
- $1000 fines for sex with prostitutes
- removing all images of alcohol from the movies
- banning selling cigarettes to people under 40
- storing all (!) user data on the servers of mobile operators (which was mostly reversed once the costs were estimated to be around a trillion dollars)
- banning Telegram via carpet bombing-style blocking of tons of Google and Amazon servers that Telegram used, resulting in thousands of small businesses unable to operate. Rather ironically, Telegram was still fully functional and more popular than ever, and used by the majority of the government officials.