Apple Approved Another Illegal Streaming App (theverge.com) 28
An anonymous reader shares a report: Another illegal streaming app has made its way to the App Store -- but it only surfaces pirated films for people in certain regions outside the US, including France, Canada, and the Netherlands. As shown in a post on Threads, the App Store listing for "Univer Note" presents itself as a productivity platform that can "easily help you record every day's events and plan your time." However, if you're a user in certain countries, like France or Canada, opening the app shows a collection of pirated movies, such as Venom: The Last Dance, Joker: Folie a Deux, and Terrifier 3.
So, Apple took 30% of the app sales (Score:4, Insightful)
Are they an accessory?
Re: So, Apple took 30% of the app sales (Score:2)
More to the point, apple CLAIMS they are diligent in inspecting apps, so either they are committing fraud by claiming their are doing that or they are accessories, there is no third option. No matter what, Apple is engaging in criminal activity of one type or another.
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Are they an accessory?
To what crime exactly?
That aside, if Apple were just running a straight up store that did minimal checking on the products just to make sure that they weren't dangerous or egregiously illegal, then I'd say they'd be no more liable than say Walmart or Target for someone else's product (as in very limited liability). However Apple is exercising strict control over what is and isn't allowed so they should have known and are tacitly endorsing it.
But I ask again, what crime has been committed? Why should t
Works for me and still downloadable in Europe (Score:2)
Apple made a mistake, zzzzzz (Score:3, Insightful)
Whenever Apple and Tesla make relatively small mistakes it makes the news because of the political and social implications associated with the companies. Apple has to review gazillion apps, of course they are going to F up a few every now and then. Why is this news? It would only be news if they didn't F something up for an extended period.
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It's bigger news because the rabid Apple fanbois constantly bore on and on about how safe and secure the Apple walled garden is. An app which does something entirely different depending on who runs it and where seems to indicate that Apple's famed vetting is pretty useless.
The Apple fanbois were all over a recent Android malware thread where the malware came from a *fake website version of the Play Store*, so you would have to virtually insist on being infected to get it. "Android = trash", they said. "Just
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seems to indicate that Apple's famed vetting is pretty useless
That's the quick take, sure. The real story is that it's highly useful, just not for what you're thinking. The primary value is protecting Apple's revenue from competitors that might attempt to forego Apple's app store cut. When that behavior occurs Apple is all over that shit.
Apple doesn't give a rats as about whatever money there is in pirated foreign movies, so their review process doesn't detect a problem. Thus, another somewhat embarrassing headline, but no meaningful damage, and no one is direc
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If Apple weren't charging a 30% commission, arguing that it needs this huge sum of money to make sure apps are safe, I'd agree with you. Their entire marketing premise to regulators, is that they need this high fee to keep its customers safe. So they're a victim of their own marketing here.
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You forget what else they manage:
- refunds
- small business accounting
- VAT, and monthly payment to the tax agency
- relevant summary documentation for the tax declaration especially VAT, of the vendor
And probably half a dozen other things.
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Oh yeah, why didn't I think of all those other *normal* things that an online store has to do! I mean, the going rate for those services is in the neighborhood of 1.5% to 2%. But yeah, they do all that stuff too, so we can knock down their 30% cut to 28%, to make it a fair comparison.
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How do you come to 1.5% to 2.0% for a refund?
Or gathering sales or VAT taxes?
What about the operation costs of the AppStore?
Apple charges 30%, but it is not the profit.
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I didn't say anything about refunds.
As for pricing by other storefront providers, Shopify is one of the more expensive ones, at $29 a month and 2.9% + $.30 per sale. https://www.shopify.com/pricin... [shopify.com]
SquareSpace charges $28 a month and 0% for sales. https://www.squarespace.com/pr... [squarespace.com]
Foreign currency conversion fees are 1.5% at Shopify. https://help.shopify.com/en/ma... [shopify.com]
All the big platforms handle VAT and sales taxes.
So a bit more than my earlier guess, but far less than Apple's 30%.
As for the costs of running
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They are reasonable for me.
As the services they provide for ME, are worth the price.
It saves me a lot of hassle I otherwise would have to do myself.
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It's true, the value of a thing is determined by the price the seller and the buyer agree on. The fact that you agree to their extremely high price, doesn't make it a *fair* price. A *fair* price is a price that is within the range of what the free market charges for a thing. Apple's market is *not* a free market. You can get all the stuff you get from Apple, from somebody else, at a far lower price.
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No,
I do not get my VAT tax declaration from someone else for a cheaper price than Apples.
And most certainly: not with out any of my own work involved.
My papers from Apple, I just give to the "Finanzamt". And that is it.
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Yes, other cheaper services do indeed provide VAT tax declarations.
https://help.shopify.com/en/ma... [shopify.com]
Other shopping platforms do the same.
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Yeah, but I can not sell my Apps on Spotify.
Spotify is a music streaming service.
You could know that. Actually you should know that.
In other words: they have none of the costs Apple has.
No idea what you want to argue about. For me the price is acceptable. If it is not for you, then don't sell apps.
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Spotify? Who said anything about Spotify? You might want to get your glasses prescription updated.
No, *Shopify,* not Spotify. Please re-read my post and the link, it's clearly not talking about Spotify. It's hard to have an intelligent conversation when you can't be bothered to even read the responses.
You're right, you can't sell your apps on *Shopify* because...Apple has a monopoly, a monopoly that gives them the ability to charge 30% for a service that others charge less than 5% for.
But go ahead, enjoy yo
Piracy is good for good content and bad for... (Score:2, Flamebait)
I grew up reading spider-man and have 2 articles of clothing featuring Venom and yet I've never watched any of the Venom movies. I was a goth spider-man and I never considered checking out the morbius movie. I'm wearing batman socks right now and I never considered watching the Jo
Pirated movies? (Score:1)
So...nothing anyone wants to actually see then.
Apple (Score:1)
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Yup. And everyone acts like they have the source to pour over every line. Whoever built the app probably wrote it in such a way that those options are not presented to Apple's reviewers.
Because, y'know, how hard would that be?
But no, Apple bad, because Apple!
I remember when... (Score:2)
the slashdot audience was entirely in favour of bypassing region locking, c.f. DeCSS.
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It's pirated content to start with. It's not legal even in the "correct" regions.