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I have no particular love for Facebook, but good for them. It's one thing to charge a 30% app tax to sign up for "Jasper's Cooking Class" on an iOS device, but

I have no particular love for Facebook, but good for them. It's one thing to charge a 30% app tax to sign up for "Jasper's Cooking Class" on an iOS device, but it's even worse to ban disclosure of that tax. Forbidding that speech is certainly 1984-esque.

CamperBob2 6y ago
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the guy on the telescreen. The problem is, the chick with the hammer wouldn't make it past the cheap seats today.
sitkack 6y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
HenryBemis 6y ago
Easy-peasy.. just like when you go to the super market or a restaurant and the receipt has the analysis of the amount: $15 pizza, $15 salad, $3 soft drink, $10 VAT, $8 Apple's 30% fee (I didn't do the math, but you get the spirit). They CANNOT force you to remove transparency and visibility of the line items. I understand that they want to hide the 30% cut and not being called out. They can also split the receipt in three parts: A) you purchased: Pizza $15, Salad $15, Soft drink $3 B) Other fees: Apple's 30% fee $10 C) Taxes: VAT $3 Edit: it just hit me. Don't write that ONLY in the receipt. Write it up front, BEFORE a user completes the transaction. Total price of ticket $10. Analysis.. X, Y 30% Apple's fee, VAT.
- thedanbob 6y ago
  This is exactly the issue. Apple blocks your app updates if you explicitly state the fee anywhere.
- pwinnski 6y ago
  That is one of the most frustrating things about shopping in America: that taxes are always broken out separately, requiring extensive mental math. The purpose is, as you suggest, forcing people to confront the reality of taxes. But confronting that reality is not making us rise up against sales taxes, so... include the tax in the marked price! /petpeeve
fogetti 6y ago
I don't think this has anything to do with free speech to be honest. Even though I find it odd and upsetting that free speech is severely limited for the worse in other contexts in the corporate world.
paul_f 6y ago
In this case facebook is keeping none of the money. The itemization on a $10 cooking class would by: Jasper $7, Apple $3, Facebook $0
- pwinnski 6y ago
  Yes, this is why Facebook is making a public issue of this case, and not the other cases where they also keep some of the money. Unclear is how Apple would be able to tell the difference between the ones where Facebook keeps zero and the others.
boublepop 6y ago
There is absolutely nothing 1984-esque about products in a store not being allowed completely free speech about the store without the store owner being allowed to decide to not carry the product. Imagine if Coca Cola started putting “Walmart is a horrible business” on their cans and the law limited Walmart’s ability to say “ok then we won’t sell Coca Cola”.
- SahAssar 6y ago
  Well, in this case facebook is the store since the tickets are sold on their platform, it just happens that one of the interfaces to their platform is via iOS. If I'd take your analogy it'd be more like the government forbidding walmart to say how much VAT is in the purchase price for a can of coke.

CamperBob2 6y ago

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to become the guy on the telescreen. The problem is, the chick with the hammer wouldn't make it past the cheap seats today.

sitkack 6y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIE-5hg7FoA

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

HenryBemis 6y ago

Easy-peasy.. just like when you go to the super market or a restaurant and the receipt has the analysis of the amount: $15 pizza, $15 salad, $3 soft drink, $10 VAT, $8 Apple's 30% fee (I didn't do the math, but you get the spirit). They CANNOT force you to remove transparency and visibility of the line items. I understand that they want to hide the 30% cut and not being called out. They can also split the receipt in three parts: A) you purchased: Pizza $15, Salad $15, Soft drink $3 B) Other fees: Apple's 30% fee $10 C) Taxes: VAT $3 Edit: it just hit me. Don't write that ONLY in the receipt. Write it up front, BEFORE a user completes the transaction. Total price of ticket $10. Analysis.. X, Y 30% Apple's fee, VAT.

thedanbob 6y ago
This is exactly the issue. Apple blocks your app updates if you explicitly state the fee anywhere.
pwinnski 6y ago
That is one of the most frustrating things about shopping in America: that taxes are always broken out separately, requiring extensive mental math. The purpose is, as you suggest, forcing people to confront the reality of taxes. But confronting that reality is not making us rise up against sales taxes, so... include the tax in the marked price! /petpeeve

fogetti 6y ago

I don't think this has anything to do with free speech to be honest. Even though I find it odd and upsetting that free speech is severely limited for the worse in other contexts in the corporate world.

paul_f 6y ago

In this case facebook is keeping none of the money. The itemization on a $10 cooking class would by: Jasper $7, Apple $3, Facebook $0

pwinnski 6y ago
Yes, this is why Facebook is making a public issue of this case, and not the other cases where they also keep some of the money. Unclear is how Apple would be able to tell the difference between the ones where Facebook keeps zero and the others.

boublepop 6y ago

There is absolutely nothing 1984-esque about products in a store not being allowed completely free speech about the store without the store owner being allowed to decide to not carry the product. Imagine if Coca Cola started putting “Walmart is a horrible business” on their cans and the law limited Walmart’s ability to say “ok then we won’t sell Coca Cola”.

SahAssar 6y ago
Well, in this case facebook is the store since the tickets are sold on their platform, it just happens that one of the interfaces to their platform is via iOS. If I'd take your analogy it'd be more like the government forbidding walmart to say how much VAT is in the purchase price for a can of coke.