linear2202Mar 7, 2024
Steve Troughton-Smith
“But Epic broke the rules” is not a defense of Apple’s behavior. As per the EC, Apple’s developer agreement contains clauses that are now and always have been *illegal*. Epic ‘broke’ the terms of an illegal contract in order to, among other things, test its legality in court and in regulation. We have our answer now: Apple’s terms were illegal. Epic was right to break them. I care nothing for how much money Epic makes, how its leadership tweets, or how Epic’s deals with console makers are worded
Mar 6, 2024 at 11:41pmIvory for iOS
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithMar 6, 2024

We are all, as developers, signed up to and subject to Apple’s illegal agreement, to the detriment of us, our families, our products and our users. And almost none of us have the resources to challenge any part of that developer agreement without risking all of the above.

“But Epic broke the rules!” “But Tim Sweeney tweets too much!” “But Spotify just wants money!”

Give me a fucking break.

Show threadPeter van BroekhovenMar 7, 2024

@stroughtonsmith Seems more like, “But Epic might break the rules in the future.”

Which is bonkers. Did we stumble into the Minority Report universe? Wait until they do, then react.

Show threadJason Petersen (he)Mar 7, 2024
@pvanb @stroughtonsmith what I love about this is that this should be the exact line of logic governments use when they put restrictions on Apple: “you acted up so much in the past we can’t trust you now”
Show threadFabian PimmingerMar 7, 2024
@stroughtonsmith it is so funny that people even argue about the situation. Apples contracts do not beat EU law. Simple as that.
Show threadNoel WallingMar 7, 2024

@stroughtonsmith When asked for comment about Epic selling ripped assets in their store, this was what they had to say:

"Pursuant to the Marketplace Distribution Agreement, each Marketplace seller represents and warrants to Epic that they have appropriate rights to upload their content. As with any store that hosts third-party content, however, Epic is not in a position to independently verify such rights, and Epic makes no such guarantee to purchasers of the content."

They sell stolen IP.

Show threadNoel WallingMar 7, 2024
@stroughtonsmith Honestly, with that admission alone, they should not be allowed to run a digital storefront anywhere.
Show threadNoel WallingMar 7, 2024
@stroughtonsmith (And yes, Epic being the messenger here really does cloud how *I* view the entire argument, because I find them a completely untrustworthy source; I extend much more sympathy towards Spotify in this respect)
Show threadRavi Mar 7, 2024
@stroughtonsmith Meanwhile,  infringing Massimo patents leads to discussion about how patents are dumb and shouldn’t exist 🤷.
Show threadPierreMar 8, 2024
@stroughtonsmith remember when I said that you did such a great job at highlighting visionOS apps that Apple marketing should hire you? ... well, I guess we know why they don't 😅 (or why you wouldn't)
Show threadRiccardo MoriMar 8, 2024

@stroughtonsmith Well said, well said. When I sided with Epic on this, the amount of flak I got was so much I had to stop talking about it.

I’m utterly fed up with people for whom Apple is good whatever it does. Some call them apologists; they’re more like hagiographers.

Show threadJes - Hedgehog Edition Mar 6, 2024
@stroughtonsmith seperate the art from the artist
seperate the company from the legal case.
yes fuck epic, but they're doing a good thing here.
Show threadDon WhitesideMar 7, 2024
@stroughtonsmith Even if we stipulated that they broke them and that the rules were reasonable I don’t see how they justify this banning. Apple has set up this scheme where you’re expected to put up a $1,000,000 as some theoretical guarantee against shenanigans. There’s no sensible risk here between that and Apple’s continued position in the pipeline for apps that will be installed. This seems simply petty and vindictive.