darelrex

It's not just the size of the fine that's retroactive; it's the whole idea that Apple has been violating the law for years. Apple's had the same App Store rules for 16 years (if anything, they've just gotten more lax), long before it was even a small fraction of its current valuation, and long before iPhone was much more than a sliver of the mobile market. Nobody running the EU thought anything was illegal about it. But now that iPhone is a trillion-dollar, smash success, suddenly it's not only illegal, but it's been illegal for years, and we need to hit them up for that. What's $2 billion here, $5 billion there, to a $3T company? They'll probably just pay, right?

But Apple's thinking, what happens in the long run if we do pay this? Next thing we know, every government in the world is hitting us up for big bucks, and demanding we trash our most successful product so the "little guys" can screw with it. Better to draw a line now, than to wait until it gets much, much worse.

spheric said:

darelrex said:

AppleInsider said:

"[The fine is] the equivalent of 0.5% of global turnover, so obviously, this is not a fine that would sort of shake Apple as such," [Vestager] told CNBC.

I don't think Apple is comparing the amount of this fine to its annual global revenue, but rather to its annual EU app store profits. That's not 0.5%; it's more like 130%.

Yeah, but that can't be the yardstick. "I have a trillion dollars, and I'm using my financial clout to fuck over competitors in this tiny market that doesn't really matter much to my financials — so my punishment needs to be appropriate to the piddling amount I make with my illegal behaviour, and not enough to, you know, actually punish me." 

The reason it matters is because Apple doesn't have to forfeit its global income to get away from crazy new EU laws, only the portion that's earned in the EU. Apple also has made it very clear over the years that it doesn't sell any product or operate in any market where it can't make a profit. And Apple hasn't used its "trillion-dollar clout" to force the EU to do anything; Apple has applied the same rules everywhere in the world, for the entire sixteen-year existence of the App Store.

AppleInsider said:

"[The fine is] the equivalent of 0.5% of global turnover, so obviously, this is not a fine that would sort of shake Apple as such," [Vestager] told CNBC.

I don't think Apple is comparing the amount of this fine to its annual global revenue, but rather to its annual EU app store profits. That's not 0.5%; it's more like 130%.

caladanian said:

What has trust to do with it? Either you follow the rules within the laws or not. You can’t distrust preventively without them making a mistake with their new developer account – after all I can understand. 

Epic Games blatantly violated its existing and agree-to contractual terms on 2020-08-13, against both Apple and also Google. That pretty much ruins their trustworthiness, right there. Getting a new developer account doesn't magically reset Sweeney's trustworthiness.

"Malicious compliance," haha. Sweeney is so hilarious. Like, I guess he and Ek thought for sure Apple would just throw up its hands, and say, "Gee, I guess we have to do this everywhere in the world because the EU said so." Nope, try again. EU law applies in the EU. Waaaaah.