App Store这项规则的改变是集体诉讼拟和解方案的内容之一，是对应用开发者的一种不完全的让步。


苹果公司宣布的这一改变将使一些应用程序更容易引导客户使用其他形式的支付方式，而不是通过App Store进行支付。

苹果公司(Apple Inc., AAPL)周四宣布修改App Store的规则，将允许软件开发者把苹果公司生态系统之外的其他付款方式告知用户，这是一桩集体诉讼拟定和解方案的内容之一。 6park.com
这一改变将使一些应用程序更容易引导客户使用其他形式的支付方式，而不是通过App Store进行支付；苹果公司对通过App Store进行的支付抽成高达30%。该公司去年把针对年收入不足100万美元的开发者的抽成比例降至15%，而潜在的和解方案将保留这个变化。 6park.com
2019年，一群应用程序开发者起诉苹果公司，指控该公司管理App Store的方式违反了反垄断法。 6park.com
苹果公司还将面向小型开发者设立一只规模为1亿美元的基金。这只小型开发者援助基金(Small Developer Assistance Fund)将让2015年6月至2021年4月期间年销售收入低于100万美元的开发者得以获取250美元至30,000美元。据原告称，逾99%的开发者将由此受益。 6park.com
这项潜在协议是对应用开发者的一种不完全的让步；为避免被抽成，应用开发者长期以来一直希望让用户直接向他们付费，而不是由苹果公司过一次手。苹果公司以前禁止开发者使用通过该公司获得的客户相关信息来直接告知客户其他付款方式。据原告称，该潜在和解协议取消了这一禁令。苹果公司表示，此类沟通必须得到消费者的许可。 6park.com
应用开发者在这桩诉讼中的代理律师之一Steve Berman表示：“这一来之不易的和解协议将为通过App Store分销数字产品的美国iOS开发者带来相当大的境况改善，特别是对那些在工作中展现出巨大创造力和能量的小开发者而言。” 6park.com
苹果公司表示，在与开发者进行了“富有成效的对话”之后达成和解，并表示规定的调整将有助于为用户和软件开发者改进App Store。负责App Store业务的Phil Schiller说，这是“用户获得应用程序最安全和最值得信赖的地方”。 6park.com
该和解协议必须获得美国联邦地区法官Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers的批准。 6park.com
该协议不会了结《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)开发商Epic Games Inc.对苹果公司提起的反垄断诉讼。Epic的指控范围更广，称App Store是一种不正当的垄断。在那起诉讼中，Epic称苹果公司不当限制了iPhone应用的分销，苹果公司还要求通过它自己的支付系统进行应用内购买。该诉讼的审理于5月结束。 6park.com
苹果公司对垄断的说法提出异议，指出人们在许多平台上玩电子游戏，并称其对软件下载和支付的控制对于用户的安全是必要的。 6park.com
负责审理此次案件的法官Gonzalez Rogers同时也是Epic一案的主审法官。在Epic诉讼中，她曾在苹果公司首席执行官库克(Tim Cook)作证时要求他回答，为什么苹果公司不允许开发者提醒用户在苹果系统之外有价格相对便宜的内购选项。她说：“苹果公司以某种方式把客户引荐给了游戏玩家、用户，这一点我能理解，但是在第一次（引荐）之后、在第一次互动之后……是开发者在留住他们的客户，苹果公司只是从中获利。” 6park.com
库克不认同这一点，他说，苹果公司有权选择一种依靠从应用和内购消费中抽成的商业模式。他还说，App Store上许多免费应用吸引了顾客，这让游戏开发者受益。 6park.com
库克说：“如果我们允许开发者在应用中放这种链接，实际上就等于放弃了我们在知识产权上的全部回报。”

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Apple Inc. on Thursday announced changes to its App Store regulations that will allow software developers to tell customers how to pay for services outside of Apple’s ecosystem, part of a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit. 6park.com
The shift will make it easier for some apps to steer customers toward other forms of payment, rather than using the App Store, where Apple charges a commission of up to 30%. The company last year halved most commissions to 15% for developers that generate no more than $1 million in revenue through the software platform, and the potential settlement will preserve that change. 6park.com
In 2019, a group of app makers sued Apple, accusing the company of breaching antitrust laws in how it managed its App Store. 6park.com
The company will also establish a $100 million fund for small developers. The Small Developer Assistance Fund will allow developers whose sales were less than $1 million a year from June 2015 to April 2021 to collect between $250 and $30,000. It will benefit more than 99% of developers, according to the plaintiffs. 6park.com
The potential deal is a partial concession to app makers, who have long wanted to get customers to pay them directly for services rather than through Apple to avoid the commission. The company previously prohibited developers from using information about customers they obtained through Apple to inform them directly about other payment options. The potential settlement removes that prohibition, according to plaintiffs. Consumers must consent to such communication, according to Apple. 6park.com
“This hard-won settlement will bring meaningful improvements to U.S. iOS developers who distribute their digital wares through the App Store, especially for those small developers who bring so much creativity and energy to their work,” said Steve Berman, one of the attorneys who is representing app developers in the lawsuit. 6park.com
Apple said the settlement followed a “productive dialogue” with developers and said the changes would help improve the App Store for users and software makers. It is “the safest and most trusted place for users to get apps,” said Phil Schiller, who oversees the App Store. 6park.com
The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. 6park.com
The deal won’t resolve an antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games Inc. against Apple over broader claims that the App Store is an improper monopoly. In that trial, which concluded in May, Epic argued that Apple improperly limited distribution of apps on the iPhone and required in-app purchases through its own payment system. 6park.com
Apple disputed the claim that it has a monopoly, noting that people play videogames on many platforms, and said its control of software downloads and payments was necessary for the security of users. 6park.com
In the Epic case, over which Judge Gonzalez Rogers also presided, she pressed Apple Chief Executive Tim Cookduring his testimony about why Apple doesn’t allow developers to suggest cheaper options for in-app purchases outside of Apple’s system. “I understand this notion that somehow Apple brings the customer to the gamers, the users, but after that first time, after that first interaction…the developers are keeping their customers, Apple is just profiting off that,” she said. 6park.com
Mr. Cook disagreed and said Apple has a right to choose a business model that relies on commissions from apps and in-app purchases. He also said that the many free apps available on the App Store attract customers and benefit game developers. 6park.com
“If we allowed people to link out like that we would in essence give up our total return on” intellectual property, Mr. Cook said.