The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are among the publishers demanding that Apple reduce their fees from the App Store. The group has issued an open letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook sending out their grievances, and they have sent a copy to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
“[We would like] to better understand the ‘circumstances’ you mentioned in your remarks to the House Justice Committee on 29 July,’ the letter states. “We would like to know what conditions our members – high quality digital content companies – must meet in order to be eligible for the regulation that Amazon receives for its Amazon Prime Video app in the Apple App Store.”
The letter was signed by Jason Kint, the CEO of a trading group called Digital Content Next, which represents The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other media outlets, which it says “together have an addictive audience of 223,098 million unique visitors as 100 percent reach the U.S. online population. ”Amazon’s reference was revealed in an email during the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation, in which Apple agreed to reduce its normal 30 percent vig to just 15 percent for Amazon.
In his testimony before the commission, Mr. Cook said this special arrangement was available to “any app developer … who meets the conditions.” But Cook has never detailed these terms, and none of the email evidence collected by the commission provides any clues.
“The conditions of Apple’s unique marketplace have a significant impact on the ability to continue investing in high-quality, trusted news and entertainment, especially in competition with other larger companies,” the letter continues. “In accordance with your statement to the Commission, I ask that you clearly define the terms and conditions that Amazon meets with its terms, so that DCN member companies that meet these terms and conditions can be offered the same agreement.”
Not coincidentally, the idea of a “special arrangement” came up in Apple’s mob-like deal with Epic Games, which instead chose to prosecute Apple when it banned its game Fortnite from the iOS App Store. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says he is not looking for a special deal, but rather fair terms for all developers.
You can read more about DCN’s complaint here.
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