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Global tech

The legal battle by Fortnite maker Epic Games against Apple and Google’s app stores began in Australia’s Federal Court this week

- March 20, 2024 3 MIN READ

A five-month legal showdown between three tech titans has kicked off in Australia, with Fortnite-maker Epic Game’s case against Apple and Google to have potentially huge ramifications for how we use our smartphones. Epic’s legal battle with Apple and Google began in Federal Court in Melbourne on Monday, centred on the dominance of the tech giant’s app… Read more »

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Global tech

Europe is paving the way for Apple App Store changes in Australia for app developers

- February 14, 2024 3 MIN READ

Significant changes that Apple was forced to make to its App Store in Europe will likely pave the way for similar reforms in Australia. In the biggest changes to the App Store since it was launched, Apple relinquished some control over its platform earlier this month in response to the Digital Markets Act in the European Union.… Read more »

Apple iPhone
Global tech

A class action against Google and Apple over app commissions is hunting for Australian app designers to join in

- April 3, 2023 2 MIN READ

Australian lawyers are seeking app developers to join a class action against Google and Apple over what they claim is an abuse of market power by charging 30% commissions on in-app spending while preventing competitive payment alternatives. The class action reflects similar legal action launched in 2020 by Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, against the… Read more »

Rod Sims, ACCC
Other

Australia’s competition boss is rallying global regulators to take on Apple and Google over their app store dominance

- August 19, 2021 2 MIN READ

Rod Sims, chair of competition watchdog the ACCC, has told his colleagues around the world that the dominance of Apple and Google in app marketplaces may need to be tackled globally with new rules and regulations. In a speech to the Global Competition Review webinar outlining how Australia has been tackling the issue through the… Read more »

Xero, Steve Vamos
Other tech

Accounting platform Xero is now in the app business

- August 9, 2021 2 MIN READ

ASX-listed business accounting platform Xero is taking on Google and Apple at their own game, launching an app store selling Xero-connected apps. The Xero App Store lets small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers purchase apps to help run their companies, and went live last week. Xero app partners in Australia, United Kingdom and New Zealand now… Read more »

Google office
Global tech

After taking on Apple in a global legal fight, Epic Games now has Google in its sights in Australia

- June 21, 2021 3 MIN READ

Fortnite maker Epic Games, which is currently in a massive anti-competition legal battle with Apple in the California courts, is planning similar legal action against Google and has won an Australian Federal Court victory to launch proceedings. Justice Nye Perram, who is also overseeing part of Epic’s case against Apple, but granted a three-month stay… Read more »

Apple iPhone
Global tech

LIFT YOUR APP GAME: Australia’s competition regulator takes aim at Apple and Google over their app store dominance

- April 28, 2021 3 MIN READ

The “significant market power” of the Apple App Store and Google Play in Australia needs to be addressed says Rod Sims, chair of competition regulator the ACCC, to give app developers better terms and conditions, as well as improving the approvals process The second part of the ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry interim report, which focuses… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

How a simple Apple App Store scam stole $1.3 million worth of bitcoin from one cryptocurrency investor

- April 7, 2021 2 MIN READ

A man lost 17.1 bitcoin – worth $1.3 million today – in an Apple app store scam that serves as a warning to people wanting to track their cryptocurrency on smart phones. Over the course of a few years, Phillipe Christodoulou banked up the bitcoin, watching as its value started to climb last year, according the Washington Post.… Read more »