Here come the idiots…They ignore the monopoly Straus oil companies have enjoyed for 70 years and go after app market places. They ignore the monopoly status of cable providers, the consolidation of media markets and go after…app stores.
Yep, the only ISP in my area is Comcast. Not even Verizon, RCN, or AT&T which are other large ISPs. It’s crazy! Then Blumenthal saying that the argument about security is ingenuine?!?! The people like him who get hacked the most should not be allowed to make such negligent statements! Having more stores means more modes of the internet means more vectors to hack. I can’t believe how utterly stupid some of these lawmakers are
It’s just a bill, people. Don’t assume it will fly through Congress and be signed by the POTUS tomorrow. Now comes the good part, the behind the scenes cat and mouse game, the lobbyists handing out cash and gifts.
But in the end, if this does pass, I think small developers will get crushed. Why would Apple spend any time or money promoting apps when they can’t profit from it? The big developers will fund their own marketing.
Well said. That’s exactly what would happen if such a bill passes!
Here come the idiots…They ignore the monopoly Straus oil companies have enjoyed for 70 years and go after app market places. They ignore the monopoly status of cable providers, the consolidation of media markets and go after…app stores.
Cable providers are typically regulated by the franchising authority of the local municipality which often gets a small cut of the cable provider’s revenues.
If government forces additional App stores on Apple and Google, then by extension shouldn’t Apple or Google be allowed to maintain an App Store on XBox, or PlayStation then? Seems fair to me.
They should be trying to utilize Apple as a national asset to strengthen security in government systems if Apple would be privy. Microsoft and Amazon definitely are, but these corporations are national treasures. Nothing is ever perfect, but these companies sure provide more value to Western values than they take.
Well I’m sure Apple is working on other monetization methods. Maybe they make their developers subscribe to be featured on their App Store. Developers can pay $500-$10,000-$15,000… etc based on installed base. The more your app is downloaded the higher your subscription. lol. These politicians are idiots if they think they can try and control the pricing/ profitability of these corps.
I hope Klobuchar and Blumenthal are lrepared to pay both Apple and Google for all they’ve invested into their app stores for developers over the years if they’re going to give Epic (a company that has no problem with competition) a big handout. How does success equate to forcing parts of these companies into being public utilities?
If government forces additional App stores on Apple and Google, then by extension shouldn’t Apple or Google be allowed to maintain an App Store on XBox, or PlayStation then? Seems fair to me.
I could definitely see Epic, EA, Take-Two Interactive wanting a store on Xbox and PS. It’s not the developers problem that Sony and MS sell consoles at a loss (so Sony claims for the PS5 while posting record profits). Selling at a loss sounds anti-competitive (predatory pricing) and hurts consumers by making games more expensive as developers have to pay exorbitant fees (30%) to distribute through each consoles store.
2/3 Republicans erroneously believe the last election was fraudulent, despite 60+ cases challenging the election being thrown out for a complete lack of evidence. Lawyers for Trump admitted they had no evidence of fraud.
Here is the relevance: Because of that, republicans are seeking to blame tech companies. Tech companies are shutting down garbage conspiracy theories, and the republicans are mad about it.
It’s not about Epic. Epic is nothing. It’s about power. And tech companies are undermining Republican power grabs. So republicans are trying to shut tech down.
If government forces additional App stores on Apple and Google, then by extension shouldn’t Apple or Google be allowed to maintain an App Store on XBox, or PlayStation then? Seems fair to me.
I could definitely see Epic, EA, Take-Two Interactive wanting a store on Xbox and PS. It’s not the developers problem that Sony and MS sell consoles at a loss (so Sony claims for the PS5 while posting record profits). Selling at a loss sounds anti-competitive (predatory pricing) and hurts consumers by making games more expensive as developers have to pay exorbitant fees (30%) to distribute through each consoles store.
Sony has publicly stated that the higher end PS5 isn't selling at a loss anymore, so it became profitable in less than a year. Microsoft is the company that's pushing the "we never make a profit" line per their hardware.
Here come the idiots…They ignore the monopoly Straus oil companies have enjoyed for 70 years and go after app market places. They ignore the monopoly status of cable providers, the consolidation of media markets and go after…app stores.
Cable providers are typically regulated by the franchising authority of the local municipality which often gets a small cut of the cable provider’s revenues.
The ability of local municipalities to grant such monopolies is something I'd love to see the federal government prohibit. The feds toss around the commerce clause for almost anything they want. This would seem to legitimately fit under that clause. Such a ban could go a long way to enable greater competition in this space.
Prices were lower and service better back when local municipalities granted -- and regulated -- those monopolies.
Then, the holy grail of privatized capitalist competition eliminated that and it's been mostly a mess since -- enough that the federal government is now talking about stepping in with billions of corporate welfare to straighten things back out.
If government forces additional App stores on Apple and Google, then by extension shouldn’t Apple or Google be allowed to maintain an App Store on XBox, or PlayStation then? Seems fair to me.
I could definitely see Epic, EA, Take-Two Interactive wanting a store on Xbox and PS. It’s not the developers problem that Sony and MS sell consoles at a loss (so Sony claims for the PS5 while posting record profits). Selling at a loss sounds anti-competitive (predatory pricing) and hurts consumers by making games more expensive as developers have to pay exorbitant fees (30%) to distribute through each consoles store.
No, that practice of selling a base unit at a loss has been around for ages: Gilette is a classic example used in college marketing courses: They started practically giving their razors away -- so that people would have to buy their razor blades. It was incredibly successful and profitable.
I'm not familiar with PlayStation but I looked into alternatives for the XBox -- and there were none. While I could get a more powerful PC, there was no way I could come anywhere close to the power of the XBox Series X for the price.
2/3 Republicans erroneously believe the last election was fraudulent, despite 60+ cases challenging the election being thrown out for a complete lack of evidence. Lawyers for Trump admitted they had no evidence of fraud.
Here is the relevance: Because of that, republicans are seeking to blame tech companies. Tech companies are shutting down garbage conspiracy theories, and the republicans are mad about it.
It’s not about Epic. Epic is nothing. It’s about power. And tech companies are undermining Republican power grabs. So republicans are trying to shut tech down.
It’s as simple as that.
True...
Meanwhile far left progressives are attacking those same corporations because they are, well, corporations.
But, there is a "silent majority" rising back up from the middle that will hopefully bring balance and sanity and challenge the crazies on BOTH ends of the political spectrum and shut them up and shut them down.
I hope Klobuchar and Blumenthal are lrepared to pay both Apple and Google for all they’ve invested into their app stores for developers over the years if they’re going to give Epic (a company that has no problem with competition) a big handout. How does success equate to forcing parts of these companies into being public utilities?
With that 30% over the years and massive, progressive improvements in fintech and ICT infrastructure, Apple has been making a killing while suppressing competition in the App Store market.
It does not matter how much something costs to provide a service when things like competition are at stake.
Frankly, it's a miracle that Apple sailed under the radar of competition bodies for so long. Tim Cook is probably celebrating getting as far as they did.
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Apple should go back to the go old days when the cut was 70% for the middle men and 30% for the developer. Fun days not.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/sony-says-499-ps5-no-longer-sells-at-a-loss
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/ps5-turning-profit-sony/
No, we don't wonder about that. The cause was hard to miss.
It does not matter how much something costs to provide a service when things like competition are at stake.
Frankly, it's a miracle that Apple sailed under the radar of competition bodies for so long. Tim Cook is probably celebrating getting as far as they did.