There is a nasty little clause in the updated version of the iPhone developer contract.
The contract with apple, according to this article from The Washington Post, states:
“In the event that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) receives any notice or claim from any end-user that: (i) the end-user wishes to cancel its license to any of the Licensed Applications within (90) days of the date of download of that Licensed Application by that end-user; or (ii) a Licensed Application fails to conform to Your Specifications or Your Product warranty or the requirements of any applicable law, Apple may refund to the end-user the full amount of the price paid by the end-user for that Licensed Application. In the event that Apple refunds any such price to an end-user, You shall reimburse, or grant Apple a credit for, an amount equal to the price for that Licensed Application. Apple will have the right to retain its commission on the sale of that Licensed Application, notwithstanding the refund of the price to the end-user.”
In short, it means that users can get a refund for their apps up to 90 days after purchasing a license. The user gets 100% back, but Apple reserves the right to keep their commission and demands the 100% from the developer, effectively giving them the shaft. This has the potential to bankrupt small firms, which make up the vast majority of Apple iPhone developers.
As one of those developers, it is my first and foremost desire to create and sell high-quality applications. I want my end users to be happy and satisfied with the app they buy from me. I feel that this is a joint venture of sorts with Apple and they should value us small-time developers for the products we provide. Keeping commission like this is just down-right greedy.
I think this needs to be talked about far and wide until Apple takes it out of the contract. The question, I suppose, is whether the risk outweighs the potential gains and comfort the platform Apple provides. For now, it is on Apple’s side and we will keep developing for the iPhone happily and productively. But you can only abuse your developer’s trust for so long before they back out and go somewhere else.
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