Decentralized social networking app Damus faces a challenging decision as Apple’s App Store issued a warning that it has fourteen days to bring its tipping feature “zaps” into compliance or risk removal from the store. Damus’s zaps allow users to send Bitcoin to their favorite content creators through the Lightning Network. The feature, however, may violate Apple’s terms as it does not use the tech giant’s in-app purchase mechanism.
This warning leaves Damus with limited options, and it couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time – just days before the team is set to speak at Oslo’s Freedom Forum about the role of Bitcoin and decentralized social media in achieving financial freedom. Damus developer William Casarin expressed concern that this action could threaten any app on the app store that interacts with Lightning in any way.
While Damus is not explicitly enabling the sale of digital content through Bitcoin, the clampdown on peer-to-peer payments may impact other apps that employ similar lightning invoice systems. Apple’s actions raise questions about the future of decentralized currencies within the App Store and the extent to which their policies facilitate innovation.
On the flip side, Apple’s 30% commission on in-app purchases has proven profitable for the company. At the end of 2022, Apple began charging its standard 30% commission on in-app NFT sales. Although Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticized this move as “grotesquely overpriced,” Apple continued to enforce its commission policy. The company even extended it to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot earlier this year.
It’s worth noting that federal law appears to partially support Apple’s critics. In 2020, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple over its 30% commission. Recently, the U.S. federal appeals court ruled that Apple breached California’s Unfair Competition Law by forbidding alternative payment methods but did not break U.S. antitrust laws. Yet, both parties have requested the court to reconsider its ruling.
As Damus grapples with Apple’s ultimatum, the situation highlights not only the growing tension between traditional tech giants and proponents of decentralized applications but also the challenge of striking a balance between innovative technologies and existing regulations. The outcome of Damus’s predicament could serve as a precedent for future negotiation between cryptocurrency-driven apps and major app stores, potentially shaping the regulatory landscape of the cryptocurrency world in unforeseen ways.
Source: Decrypt
