Mikey Campbell
In an interview on Thursday, France's digital industry minister Fleur Pellerin had some tough words for Apple over the company's takedown of app discovery service AppGratis, saying the move was "brutal" and put the startup in danger.
As noted by CNET, Pellerin now plans to ask the EU to examine the takedown, while requesting European regulators crack down on digital platforms like search engines and social media outlets. She said the recent decision justifies closer inspection of how influential tech companies "impose" their rules and regulations on others.
"I recall that the French are the world's second largest developers of software applications behind the United States for mobile devices," Pellerin told LeMonde Informatique. "What is the sense of investing if, overnight, the economic model is jeopardized by a unilateral decision...There is an issue of fairness in commercial relations..."
Before being pulled from the App Store earlier this week, France-based App Gratis served up notable iOS titles to more than 10 million users. The company's blog noted the service drove one million app installs per day for its app partners.
In banning AppGratis, Apple cited a newly implemented rule that denied services from promote other apps in a manner similar to the App Store. The Cupertino company also said the app broke another mandate against using push notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing.
A day after AppGratis was deprecated from the App Store, company CEO Simon Dawlat aired his frustration in a blog post, claiming that reviewers had not only approved the most recent app update, but also let pass an iPad version, which was given the OK just one week prior.
The AppGratis fuss is just the beginning, according to AllThingsD's John Paczkowski, who heard from people familiar with the matter that "Apple feels these apps threaten the legitimacy of the App Store charts by providing a way for developers to spend their way to a high ranking." This thinking, which holds that such apps "undermine the integrity" of the App Store by offering what are effectively alternative storefronts, could lead to broader restrictions in the near future.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
75 Comments
She said the recent decision justifies closer inspection of how influential tech companies "impose" their rules and regulations on others.
+1 for the irony.
So don't buy Apple products, France. Would you give a frick if the app in question wasn't based in France?
Actually she called it "extremely brutal". You might not agree with it, but "extremely brutal" it isn't. If little faults proceeding on distemper Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested, Appear before us? -Henry V Reserve such language for cases where extreme brutality are in evidence.
I enjoy the security of the walled garden when it comes to protection from malware or spam type apps but I do wish Apple would loosen up a bit about apps like this not too mention their puritanical views on adult content.
"I recall that the French are the world's second largest developers of software applications behind the United States for mobile devices," Pellerin told LeMonde Informatique. "What is the sense of investing if, overnight, the economic model is jeopardized by a unilateral decision...There is an issue of fairness in commercial relations..." Better make sure that you invest in companies that play by the rules in order for the model to succeed. Commercial Fairness ? huh, the French have a long and proud tradition in commercial fairness ? When did that happen ?