EU imposed core technology fee is broken and extremely anti-competitive

[Lakados]

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/03/18/apple-eu-core-technology-fee-viral-solution/

TLDR;
The EU went after Apple and Google for how their stores operate and imposed a new set of rules.
Turns out, those rules could potentially bankrupt young developers and their families if their apps suddenly go viral.
Apple doesn't have an answer for that scenario, because they didn't write the rules they just have to work with them.

 

[LukeTbk]

because they didn't write the rules they just have to work with them.

I really doubt anyone wrote a rule that force apple to charge after the first millions download, that seem arbitrary.

To test it, will I have to pay Microsoft anything it my application get installed on more than 1 millions windows/linux computer ?

Say if there is more than 1 million europeen typing sudo apt install vlc or winget install VLC, is the law force someone to charge the developer of VLC ?

 

[Lakados]

I really doubt anyone wrote a rule that force apple to charge after the first millions download, that seem arbitrary.

To test it, will I have to pay Microsoft anything it my application get installed on more than 1 millions windows computer ?

The EU has required Apple and Google to itemize and assign a fee to each service their store offers then allow developers a choice on which services they choose to use, and which they wish to provide on their own. Apple and Google are however allowed a base fee for access to their platform as a whole., which in Apple's case is 0.50 after 1M "first" downloads per year.

Apps released for free outside the Apple or Google stores that don't have a means of adequately converting the free installs to paid users could find themselves on the hook for large sums of money, so the result is for those users it is just easier to release inside the stores and not risk it.

All the EU has managed to do with their legislation of the Apple and Google is make them more complicated for developers to get started. Now is this because the EU mandates are fundamentally broken or because Apple and Google are being assholes is up for debate, but so far it looks like the result is it saves Developers nothing just changes how many people they are paying while adding additional accounting headaches they need to actively monitor.

And no not for Microsoft because the EU specifically targeted Apple and Google, I don't think Microsoft does anything similar for the Microsoft Store but I could be wrong there, but then somebody would have to use the Microsoft Store for it to matter and I don't think anybody does.

 

[LukeTbk]

. Apple and Google are however allowed a base fee for access to their platform as a whole.

Allowed not forced.... or there is a special mention in the law that make it legal for APple to charge nothing for the first million install of the last 12 months, but are forced to charge past that point ?

source ?

what will happen if the application is an anonymous application without anyone to even send a bill too, what will the EU commission fine Android if that application is installed on 1.2 million device ?

 

[Lakados]

Allowed not forced.... or there is a special mention in the law that make it legal for APple to charge nothing for the first million install of the last 12 months, but are forced to charge past that point ?

source ?

That is the EU Digital Markets Act, I mean they could choose to waive the fees on a case-by-case basis if they are brought up, just as any company could choose not to charge for a service under certain conditions. But how many are going to be willing to take the risk that they say No, or have the availability to fight them in the first place?
That's the whole point the EU pushed this through to punish Apple and Google for their anti-competitive stores but put 0 thought into the actual fallout or implementation of their ruling.

It's going to be the equivalent of an angry Mom calling up Visa because their kid accidentally racked up $50,000 in charges from some clickbait app, Visa may or may not reverse them you don't know.

 

[LukeTbk]

I mean they could choose to waive the fees

they could also choose to not have any fee just for an app being installed on their device (like almost all computer ever did since beginning of time, general platform access that what the amount of money used to buy the device in the first place was for), I feel I missing something ?

Eu rules that made company change their fee structure that brought X, is different from a law forced them to do X.