anonymouse

blastdoor said:

anonymouse said:

blastdoor said:

anonymouse said:

blastdoor said:

Every time I read one of these EU stories I try to think about what Apple should do to deal with this situation. It’s tempting to say Apple should just leave, but it doesn’t make sense to leave money on the table.

They won't be leaving money on the table by pulling out of the EU. First, the EU is just a fraction of what Apple classifies as "Europe" (which includes the Middle East and at least parts, if not all, of Africa), and obviously doesn't include European countries not in the EU, such as the UK and Switzerland. The fines the EU is threatening far eclipse the value of the EU as a market. Second, if EU rules force Apple to cripple, compromise or otherwise dumb down their products, that makes them less competitive in the rest of the world. There is at this point almost no upside for Apple to release anything in the EU and plenty of downside, not to mention all the resources wasted "negotiating" with EU bureaucrats who are not acting in good faith and are making up the rules as the go and changing them retroactively.

So, what exactly is the downside for Apple to simply pull out of the EU until there is a more favorable business climate there? I can't see any upside to staying at this point.

I’ve read that the EU represents about 7% of Apple’s revenues. That’s almost $30 billion a year. I see no reason to walk away from that if you don’t have to. 

I think it's less than that because Apple doesn't break out revenue for the EU as such, only "Europe" which includes the Middle East and Africa. Even actual Europe, you have to drop out revenue from non members of the EU like the UK and Switzerland.

But, even if it is 7%, if they are threatening you with fines of 10%, seems like a no brainer to drop that market. Why sell for a loss?

The point is to avoid the fine by complying with the law. That is, I’m saying Apple should swallow their pride and  sell the dumb products that the EC demands. It might be bad for consumers but that’s on the EC. And only sell the lobotomized product in the EU, obviously. 

Let the baby have its bottle. 

Unless it turns out to be impossible to please the baby, and then leave. 

It’s also better from a PR perspective to let people see that it’s the EC that’s being unreasonable. How they handle this in Europe can affect laws and regulations elsewhere. Apple needs to be seen as the good guys, the EU as the bad guys, so that politicians in other countries conclude they don’t want to follow the EU example 

gatorguy said:

anonymouse said:

gatorguy said:

netrox said:

I am guessing it's because it requires that text messages be stored on their data servers waiting for recipients to read and that requires a lot of resources which smaller carriers cannot afford? 

In the US they are using Google Jibe servers

So all your RCS message are belong to Google. What could go wrong?

No the messages are still yours, even if your carrier may be able to access them if authorities demand. That's not changed from when you use SMS for cross-platform messaging as you do now.  

Unfortunately, I don't believe Apple has any intention of securing its use of RCS with E2EE. They could, just as Google has, and prevent both carriers and any intermediaries, i.e. Google, from "reading" the contents (noting you assume they will), but it would not serve Apple's business purposes to do so. Throwing you under the bus in the pursuit of profit comes to mind. 

You should tell Apple loudly and directly that you need E2EE RCS now to protect the privacy of your messaging, and not "someday" if ever.