They gave the reg a comment
Obviously Apple Australia didn't get the memo about not talking to you.
Epic Games has had another crack at forcing Apple to let it handle in-game purchases itself, rather than through the App Store, this time by bringing a case in Australia – a nation currently running an inquiry into app store monopolies. The Apple vs. Epic fight kicked off in August 2020 when the game developer breached the …
Australia pioneered plain packaging for cigarette packets
Australia also led the charge to have social media companies quickly take down live streams of mass violence events
The nation is also currently trying to find a way to have Google and Facebook channel more funds to local news publishers
Don't forget about how the ACCC whipped Valve's ass in court, and how the steam refund policy was due to Valve being totes nice guys and not at all due to an Aussie judge getting ready to hand down a $10,000/day fine for breaches of our consumer protection laws. The timing was just a coincidence! honest!
It's one thing this country actually sort of gets right.
Apple is the guilty party, mostly for the 30% fee, if it was a smaller amount ...
It's not really about the 30%, though that does feature heavily. What it's really about is that if you buy an iDevice, then you can only install apps from Apple's store - there's no other route without jailbreaking the device which for the vast majority of users is not on the table. Thus Apple can act as a gatekeeper and effectively control what you do with the device you bought and paid for.
Secondary to that is the issue of parting providers from the users - the "no outside payments" bit. It's all designed to keep providers of services (for example newspapers) from being able to a) offer their own deals to users, and b) know who the users are.
And of course, turning this walled garden into a cash cow by taking a significant slice of everything.
There is a valid argument that 30% is a reasonable fee for some of the services provided. For a small developer, not having to worry about distribution, payments, piracy, etc, etc is probably worth that 30%. But the issue is that there is no choice - some businesses (such as Epic) might be happy doing it all themselves, but Apple won't let them.
Is kind funny mind considering they spend millions ensuring Steam is cut out from new titles, Little tit for tat might be a good thing. The rates these platforms charge is scandalous though, by the time the platform and the taxman has ran of with there share you can be left with less than half what you earned.
Apple has just announced a "Small Business Program", commencing January 1, 2021, reducing commission rates on paid apps and in-app purchases from 30% to 15% for developers with annual proceeds up to US $1 million.
I wonder whether Google or Amazon will follow suit...