sdw2001

While this is nearly a complete victory for Apple, I initially had a problem with this statement from the judge:  

Even so, there is still a chance government investigators could see a change of situation. Judge Rogers says that Apple was "near the precipice of substantial market power, or monopoly power," and failed to truly justify the 30% commission fee for many App Store transactions.

My first reaction was it was judicial hubris. Why does Apple have to justify their fee to the court?  They could make it 50%.  Or 75%.  Or 1%.  It's all about what the market demands.  If they aren't an illegal monopoly, then what say does the Court have?  

But then I thought about it.  This is as close to complete "bench slap" as you'll ever see.  I think that perhaps the judge threw Epic a bone by allowing 3rd party payment systems and making the comments above (and the like).  It may just be an attempt to "take the stank off" and help it survive appeal.   

maestro64 said:

This is what the stock drop $4 after this ruling, this means apple is could be cut out of profits of the apps when developers place a payment method in their app to turn things on and get rid of ads.

How many of you want you credit card information stored over lots of different companies servers. I personally limit how many places have my credit card information. As much as I hate Amazon it make doing transaction easy. I also have CC information with Paypal which many cite accept so I pay with Paypal and they hand the transaction and none of my personal information is stored on third part cites. Think about all the website who have been hacked over the years.

I don't think that's true at all.  Nothing says Apple isn't entitled to the revenue cut.  It will just be a matter of transparency and accounting.  Nothing says they can't charge developers who do this a fee, either.  Apple could add to its policies a provision that 3rd party payment systems incur a 10% surcharge automatically as a risk adjustment, and require quarterly disclosure of 3rd party sales that would have normally gone through the app store.   

slurpy said:

$200B 😂

Fucking clowns. 

Indeed.  They don’t even know how many class members there are.  What they do state is it’s “millions of developers in the U.S.” in addition to them and one other company.  Obviously that’s absurd, but let’s say it’s 2 million class members.  That’s 100k in damages per.  Lulz.  

GeorgeBMac said:

sunman42 said:

seankill said:

It’s almost as though authoritarianism is communism isn’t it? Because you generally can’t have communism without authoritarianism. 

Well, “generally” leaves out Dubcek’s government in Czechoslovakia, which was trying to establish “socialism with a human face” in 1968…. until the Soviet tanks rolled in.

Most other cases, yes, authoritarianism (“the dictatorship of the proletariat,” usually run by an elite) was a central feature. As was state terror, an invention of Lenin and his cronies.

I have to say, nothing about the current Chinese government resembles communism in any way. It’s a party of, by, and for the extremely wealthy, with dictatorial powers to enforce their will.

You said:  "It’s almost as though authoritarianism is communism isn’t it? Because you generally can’t have communism without authoritarianism."

Communism without authoritarianism is "socialism".

But China, like the U.S. is now a mixture of socialism and capitalism -- with all the benefits and drawbacks of each.

They are difference mixtures of each, but still, a mixture.

And, since last November or so, China has been reining in its capitalist corporations -- essentially to assure that they are serving the greater good and also not abusing their power.

Socialism is authoritarianism.  It's a must-have.  The U.S. is not a mixture of socialism and capitalism.  Socialism is the government controlling the means of production.  That is why those Democrats who claim to want "Scandinavian-style Democratic Socialism" are either ignorant or lying.  Maybe both.  Those countries are not socialist.  They have big social programs supported by high individual taxes.  But they are fundamentally capitalist, even pro-business (business taxes are lower than ours).  

There are no benefits to actual Socialism.  It destroys liberty and prosperity wherever it's tried.  

Real question is what will compel iPhone 12 users to consider upgrading?  I have a 12 Pro Max and I’m not
seeing it.  Of course I fully realize this is just one segment of the market. I’m just curious.