August 4th, 2009 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Open Discussions, Platforms: iOS | No Comments »
Over at Opinions in Mobile, there is a new issue addressed about the App Store. With Google Voice being banned from the App Store and the FCC investigating it, Jan asked the experts what their take on it is.
The message is seemingly clear, it's Apple's store so they can do with it whatever they want. Christopher from HandyGames writes that it's the risk of putting all eggs in one basket. Volker even takes it one step further as he discusses the legal bits of running a business like this;
“It's a free world and each manufacturer (as any operator has been doing for ages!) has the right to draw up their own guidelines and decide on who to contract with about distribution of content. It is not a ban. The decision to decline some carries certain PR effects but I doubt it has legal implications. I would wish that manufacturers apply their measure them evenly but only anti-trust/competition laws would appear to rule and I do not see market dominance (as a key benchmark for most applicable regulations) in anti-trust terms by any app store provider so far. It is important to note that it is not a ban but a refusal to enter into a distribution agreement (freedom to contract)! This would change if one (monopoly) or a few (oligopoly) of the players would become dominant in anti-trust terms; they would then unduly restrict competition by refusing access. That\'s a long shot though in respect of most manufacturers (Apple included).”
Read the whole piece here.
