Lettuce

anonymouse said:

nubus said:

Vestager is ultra pro open markets. It seems not all here get that part. She is pushing for competition all the way by keeping competition fair. If you're like Apple doing tax evasion with a "Double Irish with Dutch Sandwich" model then you can expect to take some heat. And EU is by the way not keeping fines. Those fines are 1:1 deducted from what the countries pay and EU can't charge taxes on their own. EU is not like the US government.

If Apple can't handle a person running things by the book, fighting for open markets, and being passionate about fair competition then the person replacing Vestager later this year will be a nightmare to Apple. The election earlier this month gave nationalistic parties more votes. Trade protectionism is high on their agenda. Tim Cook shouting at Vestager has all the way been very unprofessional. You don't see him like that when working with communist dictatorships.

She's not pushing open markets or fair markets, nor is she running things by the book, unless it's a secret book that only she has access to. What she is pushing is preferential treatment for European companies at the expense of American companies. She's pushing for markets tilted in favor of companies like Spotify and against companies like Apple. Trade protectionism is alive and well under her leadership. Perhaps that's difficult to see from a European perspective, and obviously an American perspective may create an opposite bias, but her actions against American companies, and to give European companies whatever they want, are so blatantly protectionist, so precisely targeted, that the objective truth clearly is closer to the American perspective on this issue than the European.

lordjohnwhorfin said:

dutchlord said:

Does that mean Siri suddenly understands Dutch? If not, any “massive upgrade” has zero value for me and Siri remains switched off like the past few years.

No offense but this is somewhat niche… 

jdw said:

The following article summary say it all more clearly...

Judge Gonzalez Rogers frequently expressed frustration and skepticism while questioning Matthew Fischer, the Apple executive responsible for the iPhone app store. Her questions conveyed concerns that Apple's compliance efforts were more focused on protecting its profits than facilitating more accessible access to alternative in-app payment options, as her order intended.

"We are running a business," Fischer remarked.

The judge is wrong.  Fischer is right.

Apple has every right to earn profits, exactly as it has been doing.  Some Apple developers are simply wanting judges to take away more profits from Apple so those profits can be handed over to themselves.  These loudmouthed developers have been working hard over the past few years to convince judges like this one that Apple isn't deserving of all the profits Apple works so hard for.  There's nothing that is overly complex or confusing to the consumer.  If anything, intelligent consumers who hold AAPL stock are rewarded every quarter when Apple pays them a dividend.  The only confusing thing is why so many in seats of power want to shift profits from Apple to a select few loudmouthed developers.  It really doesn't benefit the consumer at all in the end.

One thing rings true.  If you work hard to build a successful business, a lot of seedy people will target you.  Some in seats of power, like this judge, will harm the business in the name of consumer advocacy.  In the end, businesses that survive these never-ending attacks must fight with all their might.  But the more they fight, the more cost they incur, and the more consumers end up paying in the end.