Taipei government pressuring Apple and Google to allow free trials for apps

[Deuce Dropper]

Found this today while reading about WWDC conference...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003504899

Taipei city government: changing the world, one ridiculous demand at a time.

Maybe Apple should demand that TW crackdown on the fact that half the iphone owners in the country illegally jailbreak their phones.

The fuckin nerve of some people!

[ludahai]

Found this today while reading about WWDC conference...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003504899

Taipei city government: changing the world, one ridiculous demand at a time.

Maybe Apple should demand that TW crackdown on the fact that half the iphone owners in the country illegally jailbreak their phones.

The fuckin nerve of some people!

1. Is that a fact?
2. Is it illegal?

[mike029]

Found this today while reading about WWDC conference...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003504899

Taipei city government: changing the world, one ridiculous demand at a time.

Maybe Apple should demand that TW crackdown on the fact that half the iphone owners in the country illegally jailbreak their phones.

The fuckin nerve of some people!

1. Is that a fact?
2. Is it illegal?

1. Who knows about the statistic, but I know the guy in Taiwan Mobile offered to JB my iPhone for me.
2. It's not illegal according the DMCA anymore in the US, don't know about Taiwan. That change in the US happened after the EFF petitioned the government for a lllooonnnnggggg time. The DMCA is extremely vague, and the Apple was trying to apply the wrong part of the DMCA in court. The EFF made the argument that "that part of the DMCA is not relevant, this part is, and this part says it's ok to JB", or something like that, I'm not too familiar with the specifics of it.

I agree Apple should say something if this gets moving at all in Taipei. Everyone I've ever met with an iPhone here has Installous on it, so they aren't even buying apps. The funniest part is that nobody has a credit card to use in iTunes, anyway. Those bank cards don't work.

[CraigTPE]

What an absolute load of CRAP! This explains why I keep getting error messages in the Android Market:

Google pulls paid apps from Taiwan after being fined

I am absolutely furious. Now I can't buy any paid app on Google's Android Market. Even updating a paid app I already had was troublesome. I wonder if I will still be able to buy apps in Amazon's Appstore.......

EDIT: WOW, you can't even SEE the paid apps on Google's Android Market. CRAP! So far Amazon's Appstore doesn't seem to be affected.

[Adam_CLO]

Apple on the other hand have succumbed: Apple lets Taiwanese customers return apps within 7 days.

Should be interesting to see what the ramifications of Google vs Apple's approach will be. I can see developers pulling out of Apple's Taiwan store if there is abuse of the system. Or maybe other countries will want the same treatment?

[cfimages]

The funniest part is that nobody has a credit card to use in iTunes, anyway. Those bank cards don't work.

Not sure what you mean here. Almost every Taiwanese person I know has a wallet full of credit cards - certainly a lot more cards than they conceivably need.

[CraigTPE]

Apple on the other hand have succumbed: Apple lets Taiwanese customers return apps within 7 days.

Should be interesting to see what the ramifications of Google vs Apple's approach will be. I can see developers pulling out of Apple's Taiwan store if there is abuse of the system. Or maybe other countries will want the same treatment?

AFAIK, unless the iPhone is jailbroken, there is no other way to install an app other then iTunes, whereas Android apps can be installed by any number of means from any source. Seems like that would make app piracy much more of a concern on Android than on iOS.

I'm just wondering, does this same 7-day refund requirement in Taiwan apply to computer software? What is to prevent a person from buying computer software, installing it on their computer, then refunding it?

[Adam_CLO]

AFAIK, unless the iPhone is jailbroken, there is no other way to install an app other then iTunes, whereas Android apps can be installed by any number of means from any source. Seems like that would make app piracy much more of a concern on Android than on iOS.

Correct.

I'm just wondering, does this same 7-day refund requirement in Taiwan apply to computer software? What is to prevent a person from buying computer software, installing it on their computer, then refunding it?

I asked this question earlier in the thread and I think the answer is no, you can't refund computer software. So it's a hypocritical law to begin with. I bought a router the other day and tried to return it later in the day UNOPENED and they would only let me exchange it for equal or greater value. I suppose if I had made enough of a fuss they might have let me return it, but the point is that refunds out here are generally harder to come by than they are out West, which makes this kind of law even stranger.

Not sure what you mean here. Almost every Taiwanese person I know has a wallet full of credit cards - certainly a lot more cards than they conceivably need.

Many bank / debit cards here have VISA symbols attached to them. I don't believe such cards work for online purchases though.

[cfimages]

Not sure what you mean here. Almost every Taiwanese person I know has a wallet full of credit cards - certainly a lot more cards than they conceivably need.

Many bank / debit cards here have VISA symbols attached to them. I don't believe such cards work for online purchases though.

Most of those don't, but they're relatively new. Banks here hand out (or used to) credit cards to almost any Taiwanese citizen with a pulse.

[maoman]

Apple on the other hand have succumbed: Apple lets Taiwanese customers return apps within 7 days.

Should be interesting to see what the ramifications of Google vs Apple's approach will be. I can see developers pulling out of Apple's Taiwan store if there is abuse of the system. Or maybe other countries will want the same treatment?

I can't see any "official" links confirming this. Your link quotes 9tofmac.com, and they quote The Economic Times (India), which doesn't provide any links or even quotes to its assertion "Apple changed its rules".

Does anyone have official confirmation or a link?

Second, if developers move away from iTunes Taiwan, how difficult is it for Taiwanese customers to buy apps from US iTunes?