Retailers like Amazon already take a cut of all transactions. The only reason why Apple's cut stands out is because it is the same as Amazon's. In effect, Apple

Retailers like Amazon already take a cut of all transactions. The only reason why Apple's cut stands out is because it is the same as Amazon's. In effect, Apple is saying, "if you sell stuff on iTunes, you should be the producer, not the middleman, or, if you are a middleman, you better be damn thin." Again, seems fair enough. Booksellers won't give a toss about whether it's Amazon or iBooks that takes the 30%, so long as users buy it. And Amazon doesn't deserve 30% just for syncing books between the kindle and the iPad (unless they're the one making the sale).