
Blockchain’s Response to Apple - Kenan
http://blog.blockchain.info/2014/02/06/blockchain-response-to-apple/
======
freyrs3
This was unexpected? How is not naive to expect a corporation to remove any
software when it infringes on their bottomline. If you buy into developing
software for this corporate-controlled walled garden of any kind you set
yourself up for this. It's 2014, we've had 5 years of this kind of behavior
from Apple and people still seem surprised by this fact.

~~~
thethimble
I'm surprised by the outrage. Apple's position here is logical - banning
bitcoin wallet apps does not impact the vast majority of its userbase while
taking a strong stance in preserving its payments monopoly. Corporations are
not benevolent but are rational agents acting in their best interest.

~~~
barce
By that logic they should ban Paypal, Dwolla, Gyft, Gowallet, Visa, and any
other payment app. They clearly haven't, and I'm not sure how Bitcoin apps are
any different. The point is they aren't acting rationally.

~~~
freyrs3
And that's because those companies have made deals with Apple behind closed
doors that your average app developer can't leverage. It's rational in the
sense that it serves their interests.

~~~
threeseed
Care to provide evidence of this ? I led the mobile development effort for a
very large international bank which was doing peer-peer payments. We didn't
make any special deals and were subject to the same conditions as everyone
else.

~~~
jasonlotito
One only need to make a payment through Fandango's iOS app and see that you
can use PayPal to see that Apple's rules aren't the same for everyone.

~~~
robterrell
You're incorrect -- this is an example of the rule, not an exception.

Apple will not let Fandango (or anyone) sell a real-world item through IAP.
That is why PayPal is acceptable. It's clearly stated in the app guidelines
that IAP must be for virtual / digital items only.

I worked on an app that let you buy drinks at bars. In-app purchase was
clearly out, so we integrated PayPal and Stripe. Apple allowed that and it's
been in the store, with periodic updates and their reviews, for years.

~~~
jasonlotito
I was mistaken, and have misunderstood that rule all this time. Thank you for
the correction.

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colinbartlett
What's the best way to make noise about this?

Sure, I can switch to Android but A) I don't really want to do that and B)
losing a handful of Bitcoin enthusiasts to another platform is really not
going to dent Apple in any way.

~~~
ye
Switch to Android. It will make a dent.

Bitcoin people are not a random demographic, they are early adopters, many are
entrepreneurs, most are young.

~~~
ceejayoz
I don't think Apple cares all that much about losing early adopters at this
stage, and the number of folks willing to switch platform over Bitcoin wallet
apps isn't going to be the slightest bit noticeable.

~~~
sentenza
I'm no friend of Bitcoin, but won't disregarding early adopters lead them one
step closer to becoming Microsoft?

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ceejayoz
> The only thing that has changed is that bitcoin has become competitive to
> Apple’s own payment system.

Well, that, and a bunch of media, law enforcement, and legislative attention.

> Bitcoin’s use for international payments from family members sending money
> home to support entire communities in the developing world and for charity
> fundraising and fund distribution will be severely affected by this
> decision.

Can't they just use their web browser?

~~~
pdx6
> Well, that, and a bunch of media, law enforcement, and legislative
> attention.

Normal currencies and online currencies suffer from these same 3 issues
though.

~~~
meepmorp
Normal currencies are backed by sovereign governments, are controlled by
regulatory regimes, and don't get pitched as a way of anonymizing
transactions/avoiding government interference in shady dealings.

~~~
pdx6
Cash is used anonymously and for shady dealings too. Compare this to the
blockchain, which is public, not anonymous.

There is no rule that says a currency has to be backed by a government, since
people have traded without government backed currency since the dawn of man.

------
droob
Departed from the reality the rest of us share with "Apple attempted to strike
a devastating blow to the bitcoin ecosystem"

------
niccary
Let's build amazing products they can't ban. On Android. On browsers.
Everywhere.

------
madeofpalk
Don't mistake to maliciousness what can be attributed to naievity.

The reason Apple has issues with other payment methods on their App Store is
that they can't control them. Meaning, they can't ensure the user experiance
they would like to, and when things go wrong, they can't fix it.

Apple's userbase is so large and diverse now that users blame things on Apple
that shouldnt (e.g. they loose money through bitcoin they used with an iPhone
app, Apple gets blamed ). This is their way of minimising that.

~~~
higherpurpose
Yeah right. Bitcoin is a threat to payment systems. Apple intends to launch
its own payment system soon (for more than just apps). It's as simple as that.
But of course they would use an excuse like "it's for your own good". That's
what all dictators say, too.

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beedogs
Apple's a pretty terrible company. This should've been expected.

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ChuckMcM
I'm sure they would be ok with it if you paid Apple 1/3 of any Bitcoin
transaction you made through it. Without doing so you create a huge hole in
their app revenue tax.

~~~
robzyb
No they wouldn't. Profiting from Bitcoin transfers is a regulatory nightmare.
This is because there are no controls to minimise the risk that Bitcoin is
being used for money laundering.

~~~
ye
The dumb money laundering argument.

If you seriously think regulators care about money laundering, ask yourself
why HSBC laundered hundreds of billions of drug cartel dollars, got a slap on
the wrist and nobody went to jail.

Money laundering is the new "think of the children" or "terrorists!" bullshit.

~~~
threeseed
It's a legitimate argument.

Regulators DO care about money laundering they have just been completely
incompetent at regulating it.

------
jsz0
Apple isn't even remotely close to having a monopoly in the SmartPhone market.
That's such a non-sense thing to say in an official statement. My perception
of block chain.info is now a company that lies / misrepresents the truth on
purpose. Good work guys.

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sekasi
Apple will fight all day and all night to maintain control of money on their
app store. The way they push their weight around against anything that tries
to do anything outside their walled garden is nothing short of disgusting.

~~~
meepmorp
> The way they push their weight around against anything that tries to do
> anything outside their walled garden is nothing short of disgusting.

This is capitalism. They provide services that they expect you to use, and if
you want to do business on the platform they control, you play by their rules.
If you don't like it, you're free to leave.

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valarauca1
Those first to paragraphs are very harsh. Which I find funny because some
their harsher lawsuits were started by Jobs, who's famously quoted in their
first paragraph (well he wrote it not said it).

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mat1911
buy android

~~~
joaorj
In my opinion anyone that uses apple's products must know that at any moment,
apple can decide unilaterally that the user should not use some app /
functionality.

If you don't like that you probably aren't using apple products already.

~~~
ceejayoz
Google can and has done the same thing.

~~~
ac29
You dont have to use google's app store, I have plenty of apps from other
sources.

