In the fight against app store rules, Epic and Spotify receive support from US media groups: The industry association Digital Content Next (DCN) has joined the non-professional organization “Coalition for App Fairness”, which is campaigning for a comprehensive app store reform begins and sees a number of larger and smaller app providers behind it.

Apple as an undesirable middleman Apple pushes itself as a middleman between publishers and readers and interferes with the prescribed commission of up to 30 Percent of the business with subscriptions “significantly” – both in financial form and through rules that limit payment options for customers, as the Coalition for App Fairness explains in a joint communication.

The industry association represents media groups like News Corp. and Bloomberg and major US newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post. As a middleman, Apple can impose “arbitrary fees and rules”, complains DCN, which is why they want to advocate for “fair and competitive” app store rules.

Publishers warn of “gloomy advertising world” The media association had previously sharply criticized Apple: The company was pushing publishers into a ” gloomy advertising world “and ultimately also a shame for the press landscape. Just like Epic Games & Co, the publishers complain that Apple requires the use of the in-house payment interface for in-app purchases and thus up to 30 percent of sales with digital content in apps. Although the consideration does not differ, the iPhone group keeps the same commission for a 15 dollar subscription as for a 500 – Dollar subscription, complained the association.

The media companies are also bothered by the fact that Apple grants some providers such as video streaming services special conditions , including the otherwise strictly forbidden integration of direct payment options. Small app providers can reduce the commission at Apple from 30 to 15 Apply for percent.

For Apple, its own payment interface is firmly linked to the App Store, they have a “right of ownership” to in-app purchases by iOS users, argued the Group in legal dispute with Epic Games. The Coalition for App Fairness particularly hopes for regulatory action. In addition to the commission charged by Apple, she also criticizes the limitation of the payment interface and the “lack of freedom of choice for end customers”, since iOS apps are only officially available in Apple’s App Store. (lbe)