5 ms·

Why can’t developers bring a class action lawsuit or someone else just open a case? They did so in Cameron vs Apple and Google … and settled I believe !

by EGreg 3y ago

johnnyanmac 3y ago
They can. They have little interest to. Very miniscule reward (the only ones winning in a class action are the lawyers... I am due for a solid $20 from Google though!) for a huge risk. I'm repeating the words of another commenter, but most app devs aren't competing against Apple but other devs. They aren't billion dollar businesses that stand to benefit by trying to get a lower rev share.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  But you've just described the dynamics of every single class action lawsuit. It doesn't matter that the individual devs have little interest, the lawyers have huge interest because winning a sizable class action for a lawyer is equivalent to a having a startup that hits.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    Class actions benefit a lot from certain amount of devs cooperating with the lawyers. I'm unsure how many would in fear of retaliation.
    - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
      There are hundreds of thousands of developers with apps in the App Store. They only need a couple class representatives.
- kelnos 3y ago
  The purpose of this class action would be to force Apple to change policies going forward (which would presumably give choices to developers that would allow them to save money and increase their profits). Any cash distributed in the settlement would be a bonus. But I do agree that most developers probably wouldn't be interested. They don't want to stand up their own payment processor, or don't care to do integrations with a bunch of third parties, and tolerate the fees to use Apple's payments platform. And for many of these developers, their entire business is built on their relationship with Apple. Getting their developer accounts terminated would mean shutting down entirely.
dwaite 3y ago
What would the suit entail? That Apple is giving a new option where they charge less than the previously agreed upon percentage?

Why can’t developers bring a class action lawsuit or someone else just open a case? They did so in Cameron vs Apple and Google … and settled I believe !

by EGreg 3y ago

Why can’t developers bring a class action lawsuit or someone else just open a case? They did so in Cameron vs Apple and Google … and settled I believe !

johnnyanmac 3y ago

They can. They have little interest to. Very miniscule reward (the only ones winning in a class action are the lawyers... I am due for a solid $20 from Google though!) for a huge risk. I'm repeating the words of another commenter, but most app devs aren't competing against Apple but other devs. They aren't billion dollar businesses that stand to benefit by trying to get a lower rev share.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
But you've just described the dynamics of every single class action lawsuit. It doesn't matter that the individual devs have little interest, the lawyers have huge interest because winning a sizable class action for a lawyer is equivalent to a having a startup that hits.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Class actions benefit a lot from certain amount of devs cooperating with the lawyers. I'm unsure how many would in fear of retaliation.
  - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
    There are hundreds of thousands of developers with apps in the App Store. They only need a couple class representatives.
kelnos 3y ago
The purpose of this class action would be to force Apple to change policies going forward (which would presumably give choices to developers that would allow them to save money and increase their profits). Any cash distributed in the settlement would be a bonus. But I do agree that most developers probably wouldn't be interested. They don't want to stand up their own payment processor, or don't care to do integrations with a bunch of third parties, and tolerate the fees to use Apple's payments platform. And for many of these developers, their entire business is built on their relationship with Apple. Getting their developer accounts terminated would mean shutting down entirely.

dwaite 3y ago

What would the suit entail? That Apple is giving a new option where they charge less than the previously agreed upon percentage?