"A bill submitted by the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would compel the dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options, while banning the technology giants from giving preferential treatment to their own products."
So the #EU forces #Apple to allow alternative #Appstores, breaking their monopoly.
Apple retaliates with scare mongering (we do it for your security) and with making all EU users pay additional fees. That's incredibly smart. The way a Bond Villain is incredibly smart.
This great news out of Australia (via @owa) makes worldwide browser choice more likely. Every jurisdiction that rejects Apple and Google's underhanded browser nonsense bring us a step closer to ending App Store rent extraction and proprietary lock-in.
I'm a bit sad. I've tried to bring people over to #Mastodon with what are good arguments to ME: #NSFW content creators will eventually be shadowbanned or booted off a platform as soon as there is advertisers or payment processors demanding it. For marginalised people, Mastodon has powerful tools to stay safe.
But most people I talk to do acknowledge that and then go on to stay on #Twitter or sign up for #Bluesky.
But I understand the discoverability issues, it's Mastodon's greatest weakness IMO.
@AimeeMaroux The issue is that #federatedNetworks appear "hard" and are inscrutable to people used to clicking OK on a #EULA without reading it. People who don't understand that they are saying "please take my #privacy and my #rights." People who think that #appStores are great rather than voracious organizations with predatory commission structures.
Average users don't want to think why things are #free and easy. They will also be the ones to complain when a for profit corporation changes their rules in a way that affects them, the user who believes the internet is somehow "free".
The #fediverse is fantastic because no one organization can take it down, and you can change servers if you don't like your current server's new rules. But explaining that to #normies will get you a blank gaze of I comprehension.