Apple Reinstates Epic Developer Account After Public Backlash for Retaliation (epicgames.com) 41
Epic Games, in a blog post: Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account. This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable. We are moving forward as planned to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney adds: The DMA went through its first major challenge with Apple banning Epic Games Sweden from competing with the App Store, and the DMA just had its first major victory. Following a swift inquiry by the European Commission, Apple notified the Commission and Epic that it would relent and restore our access to bring back Fortnite and launch Epic Games Store in Europe under the DMA law.
Re:Epic’s worst enemy (Score:4, Interesting)
Because Apple will destroy Epic's market opportunity if Sweeney isn't being polite.
But that's totally his fault - not a public company acting like a royal tyrant.
Ia "be polite when speaking about Apple" in their ToS? It actually wouldn't surprise me.
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This is the one thing I don't like about the DMA: it is "limited" by market cap and the subjective definition of "gatekeeper."
Make the DMA apply to Epic itself; make it apply to XBox, Sony, and Nintendo; make it apply to Steam; make it apply to every auto manufacturer; make it apply to every PC out there (I should be able to put whatever BIOS I want on it), make it apply to any phone (why am I locked into the phone vendor's firmware?) make it apply to any manufacturer of electronics that "locks" your abilit
shows apple that they can't just ban some one for (Score:3)
shows apple that they can't just ban some one for mystery rules or past behavior under the older rules.
And says that apple can get into big issues in the EU if they try to crack down to much others.
also I think some of the alt app store rules will need to change to be OK in the EU.
As well the main app store web browser rules.
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That was just one of the items on the long list of malicious compliance issues that Apple pulled in relation to DMA.
I'm interested to see if this pushback extends to others, or if most of malicious compliance items stay in place while PR issues are focused only on Epic issue until Apple's policies are pushed through the court system.
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Apple has some of the best lawyers money can buy. While the EU is not to be triffled with, neither is Apple. I think that Apple has a clear path for compliance here and they know exactly how to proceed. I suspect Epic is the shortest sighted one here and there are some private notes being passed here... I suspect that the next time Epic makes a derogatory comment about Apple the account will go down again and be down longer. The EU will open an inquirey and Apple will deliver their reasoning in an EU p
Re: shows apple that they can't just ban some one (Score:2)
Your comment makes me wish slashdot had laugh reacts.
Apple is absolutely trifling compared to the EU. And if they had anything to say about Epic that would be "palletable" (which means able to be shipped on a pallet, try not using words you don't understand next time) they would already have said it. Apple is not IBM. Their lawyers are not to be feared. Envied, perhaps, because Apple leadership keeps doing stupid shit that keeps them employed.
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What on earth are you going on about? Apple is tiny compared to EU. EU's "inquireys" tend to come in a form of "punitive bureaucracy is looking into you, get ready to be really torn to pieces by bureaucrats who are there to show how tough they are on their target because that's what gets them closer to next step of aristocratic status".
Courts only come in play in final stages of the thing, and only in limited capacity unless bureaucracy fucks up. Which to be fair is not a rare occurrence any more, mainly du
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Indeed, one of the fundamental ideas in the DMA is that once these platforms become so big they are monopolies or gatekeepers, the operators are required to be a lot less arbitrary about the rules they create and enforce.
wow reinstated (Score:2)
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Those armchair lawyers are one or two steps more stupid than Apple is acting here. That is quite an accomplishment.
Such a surprise (Score:4, Informative)
The current Apple "leadership" seems to be comprised of arrogant, no-clue, bumbling idiots.
Re: Such a surprise (Score:2)
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I think you have no idea who this works. The EU has a legal system that is a bit different than the US one. Less corrupt.
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Re: Such a surprise (Score:2)
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Do you prefer an unelected quasi-government made up of Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.?
Re: So, let me get this straight (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: So, let me get this straight (Score:2)
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Doesn't matter if you don't buy them. Point of sale systems run on their tech. That's just one example. You'd have to detach yourself from the entire economy if you want to escape their influence. Are you going to live as a hermit out in the woods or something?
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That's not at all what I'm talking about, but thanks for trying.
Re: So, let me get this straight (Score:2)
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the *EU* that is, the unelected quasi-government in Belgium,
Would that be the European Parliament, which is comprised of elected members?
Would that be the European Commission, the cabinet of which is comprised of ministers elected in their respective countries?
Would that be the civil servants in the European Commission? If so, why not also vociferously complain about the bureaucracies in the member nations?
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Would that be the European Parliament, which is comprised of elected members?
You mean the elected members that cannot propose legislation, but sit in sessions where they get seconds to approve or reject proposals from the European Commision? Proposals that, if rejected, can be put up for another vote, over and over again, by the Commission with no amendments?
Would that be the European Commission, the cabinet of which is comprised of ministers elected in their respective countries?
Members of the European Commission are elected by the Parliament, and have to swear an allegiance to the Union and are forbidden from voting in the interests of their own nation.
Would that be the civil servants in the European Commission?
You mean the civil servants that can be neither ap
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What is the correct tradeoff for government absolution of personal liability and de facto lack of any real consequences for criminal behavior, even in the case of wonton disregard for human life?
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Care to point out how the EU parliament is unelected? Because the elections are coming up in June, so I don't want to waste my day casting a vote that apparently according to Brett Buck isn't going to count.
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And that we are supposed to cheer this as a step forward for good and right?
DUH Yessss
Fuck me this is two children having a tantrum (Score:1)
I don't know what is sadder in all this. Apple's little spat, or Tim's high and mighty preaching that the reversal had anything to do with the DMA. I really wish we could purge both Tim Sweeny, and whichever man-child is involved at Apple making these decisions from the planet. These oversized children give humans a bad name.
Not a problem (Score:2)
This is more about Epic wanting easy profits than Apple denying them a shopfront. The Galaxy shopfront has been on Android for a few years now: Epic, Enid, etc didn't want to spend the money joining it or building their own. For some reason that has changed.
Imagine for a moment, Apple continued their ban on shopfronts: Then, only Android devices will offer the latest eye-candy. When parents and children want to be entertained, which games do they want to play? Whatever's modern and for-sale (a taut
Apple does not need the money (Score:2)