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Comment by wolfendin | Hacker News Reader

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wolfendin·

Why does Epic get the privilege to force me to buy things through their store?

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How would they force you to buy anything? If you don't want to use their store, then don't install it?

If you don't want to use Apple's store, then don't buy an iPhone?

if you don’t want EU laws applied to you don’t sell phones on that market.

Because everyone else basically said "the new conditions are bad, I won't risk my business", but in the particular case of Epic they're banned from Apple's walled garden, so even the terrible terms are better than nothing.

They aren't banned from the App Store. The agreement that Epic's Swedish subsidiary is the standard developer agreement, and they can publish whatever they like in the App Store as long as they follow Apple's guidelines.

Apple has said as much for the main developer account in the past.

It is highly unlikely Epic would publish anything in the App Store, however, even ignoring the bad blood.

Part of operating an App Marketplace is that you are agreeing to the EU rules which include a core technology fee. So even an app with no in-app purchasing on the Apple App Store would cost them a substantial amount to publish.

Remember that the EU Commission has not said a word about the new fee that Apple added, but that fee looks against the spirit of the DMA, so it is likely that Apple will be forced to give up that fee considering they already charge an annual membership for the developer account.

Apple overplayed their anti-competitive card, so now they'll be permanently scrutinized.

Epic has the privilege to allow you to buy things from their store.

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