Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Oct. 22 (Xinhua)-- Apple recently began paying claim fees to specific App Store developers as part of a $100 million (723 million yuan) settlement reached in Cameron et al. V. Apple, MacRumors reported.

CTOnews.com learned that the lawsuit alleges that Apple monopolized the distribution and in-app purchase of iOS apps. But Apple called the settlement a "small developer assistance fund".

Based on total revenue from App Store, eligible developers are expected to receive between $250 (about 1808 yuan) and $30, 000 (about 217000 yuan) in payments from Apple. In some cases, however, the compensation may be higher because not all developers have submitted claims.

In the United States, only developers who earn less than $1 million (approximately 7.23 million yuan) in annual revenue from App Store and submit claims before the May 20, 2022 deadline will receive payments between June 4, 2015 and April 26, 2021.

According to court documents, about 67000 developers are eligible to file claims. It is not clear how many claims have been submitted. Apple denies all the charges and the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. Developers who have settled can no longer sue Apple separately for the same claims filed in the class action, including any claims that Apple overcharged them because of App Store's fee structure.

The lawsuit dates back to 2019, when some iOS developers accused Apple of using App Store's monopoly to impose "profiteering" commissions. The lawsuit challenges the standard 30 per cent cost of Apple's App Store purchase.

As part of the settlement, Apple also updated its App Store review guidelines, allowing developers to share information about payment methods available outside iOS apps through out-of-app communications such as email. As usual, developers don't have to pay Apple a commission for purchases made outside App Store.

Apple also agreed to keep App Store's small business plan unchanged for at least three years and make other concessions. The plan cuts the commission that small developers must pay to 15%.

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